Trade-offs shaping behavioral variation are often influenced by the environment. We investigated the role that the environment plays in mediating trade-offs using a widespread frog with a conspicuous mating display, Pseudacris crucifer. We first demonstrated, using playback and desiccation...
Populations are often spatially structured such that phenotype distributions reflect adaptive phenotype-habitat associations. I investigated two questions about how environmental heterogeneity contributes to spatially structured phenotypic variation in a polyphenic population of sunfish. 1) How does sunfish habitat use in...
Glucocorticoid hormones allow individuals to rapidly adjust their physiology and behavior to meet the challenges of a variable environment. An individual’s baseline concentration of glucocorticoids can reflect shifts in life history stage and resource demands while mediating a suite of...
Populations of many aerially insectivorous birds are declining, yet conservation efforts remain focused on habitat due to an absence of data on changes in prey availability. We evaluate the potential for prey and habitat availability at multiple spatial scales to...
Urbanization and agricultural practices can lead to alterations in stream habitat quality. However, there have been few attempts to understand if these alterations influence the health and condition of fish, or their ability to respond to multiple stressors. This study...
Status signals are linked to fighting ability and enable competitors to gain access to resources without risking injury in aggressive combat. The relationship between testosterone (T), a hormone that mediates aggression, and signals of status is well studied in males...
We examined the effect of habitat fragmentation, as well as breeding density and synchrony, on realized reproductive success of male Least Flycatchers (Empidonax minimus). Both breeding density and synchrony were similar in both continuous (6.75 males/ha, 3.40; respectively) and fragmented...
For ectothermic reptiles, habitat selection is mechanistically linked to fitness through the temperature-dependence of performance. Many reptiles occupy thermally heterogeneous environments and regulate their body temperature through selective use of habitats within their environments, making reptiles ideal subjects to understand...
Continent-wide variation in hydrogen isotopic composition of precipitation is incorporated into animal diets, providing an intrinsic marker of geographic location at the time of tissue growth. Feathers from migratory birds are now frequently analyzed for stable-hydrogen isotopes (δD) to estimate...
Phylogeographic analyses using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) have revealed many examples of apparently deep historical subdivisions (‘phylogroups’) within many vertebrates. It remains unclear whether these phylogroups represent independently evolving, adaptively differentiated lineages or groups that show little functional differentiation and, hence...
Animals often exhibit territorial spatial structure in their breeding habitat. This clustering behavior is not well understood. We reviewed eight hypotheses for clustering and tested two ecological hypotheses for the formation of dense, territorial clusters in the Least Flycatcher (...
Thermoregulation is thought to be the most important factor influencing habitat selection by terrestrial ectotherms, at least in temperate climates. The cost‐benefit model of thermoregulation predicts that ectotherms should invest more in thermoregulation when the costs of doing so are...
Parasites may be expected to become locally adapted to their hosts. However, while many empirical studies have demonstrated local parasite adaptation, others have failed to demonstrate it, or have shown local parasite maladaptation. Researchers have suggested that gene flow can...
Declining nest success of forest birds in fragmented habitat has been attributed to increased nest predation. Better understanding of this problem and potential solutions to it require information on why nest predators are attracted to habitat edges. Toward this end...
Molecular genetic studies have suggested that apparently nonbreeding males (‘floaters’) may account for a significant proportion of extra‐pair paternity (EPP) in avian populations. Attempts to determine the influence of breeding density on EPP are therefore confounded by the presence of...
We investigated the distribution of variation at six microsatellite loci in the black rat snake (Elaphe obsoleta obsoleta). Sampling occurred at three hierarchical scales ranging from communal hibernacula to regional populations, with most locales situated within the Frontenac...
We inadvertently examined homing ability in Tree Swallows when we removed twelve males from their nestboxes in 1993 as part of another study. These males were removed just prior to their mate's fertile period and released either 125 or 250...
Costly signals can evolve under sexual selection, as only those signals that are difficult to produce and reflect the relative quality of individuals should be important in mate choice. One such signal may be dawn singing behavior in birds. We...
An understanding of diet selection in animals requires knowledge of not only what animals eat in relation to what is available, but also how they perceive the foods available to them. Birds use auditory, visual, olfactory and possibly vibrotactile cues...
Suitable over-wintering habitat is critical to the survival of snake populations at higher latitudes. The identification and protection of traditional, communal hibernation sites (hibernacula) is important for the conservation of threatened species, while the assessment of hibernacula availability may help...
The cumulative (season‐long) incidence of heterospecific pollen transfer (HPT) was examined using nine sympatric species in a midsuccessional old field. Inflorescences were collected weekly during the flowering season, and the proportion of foreign pollen/stigma was recorded. Flowering phenologies of sympatric...
Possible convergence between the unique aerial-feeding american redstart and the tyrannid flycatchers was considered using skeleton, external morphology, substrate use, and locomotory feeding movements.
We studied the flight display of the Bobolink to determine if it functions as a signal of male quality. We tested the hypothesis that flight display is an honest signal of male quality limited by its energetic costs.
We discuss breeding options available to a floater male eastern bluebird and conclude that (1) floater male bluebirds that fill territory vacancies benefit by gaining breeding opportunities in the current breeding season, and (2) indifference to the young is the...
This study investigates the effects of bromocriptine, a specific dopamine receptor agonist that inhibits secretion of prolactin from the pituitary, on parental care behaviors of nesting male bluegills.
Displacement experiments can provide useful insights into the orientation and navigational abilities of animals (Gregory et al., 1987). Such experiments have shown that some individuals of some snake species are capable of returning to their home range after displacement (i.e...
From late May to mid-September 1982 we investigated habital selection by black rat snakes (Elaphe o. obsoleta) at the Queen's University Biological Station in eastern Ontario. We implanted radio transmitters in 4 male and 3 female snakes and...
Although various studies have been carried out on outbreak populations of Malacosoma disstria Huebn there is a paucity of work on between-outbreak populations because of the difficulty of locating the caterpillars. The authors present perliminary evidence which suggests that this...
The relationships between harem size, territory size, nest site suitability, and fledging success were studied for a breeding population of redwinged blackbirds (Agelaius phoeniceus). Reproductive success was correlated negatively with female breeding density within territories and positively with...
An incidence of 31.8 percent infection with botflies (Cuterebra sp.) was found in a population of deer mice (Peromyscus leucopus noveboracensis) trapped near the Queen's University Biological Station, Chaffey's Locks, Ontario, during July and August 1958. No...
