A population memetics approach to cultural evolution in chaffinch song: meme diversity within populations

Article Abstract:

A study of cultural evolution in populations of common chaffinches (Fringilla coelebs) using a population memetics approach is reported. Variability within populations was quantified using the concept of the song meme, which is a single syllable or a series of linked syllables capable of being transmitted. The relationship between meme diversity and population densities in three Atlantic islands and nearby continental regions were determined. Population memetics studies could be useful in formulating a general theory that will relate cultural evolution with population genetics theory.

Analysis, Birdsongs, Behavior genetics, Behavioral genetics, Behavior evolution, Behavioral evolution

---

Nest placement relative to food and its influence on the evolution of avian coloniality

Article Abstract:

A model explaining the travel behavior of animals in relation to resource availability, is used to determine avian coloniality. Using this model, the nesting behavior of cliff swallows, Hirundo pyrrhonota, is examined. However, two assumptions of the model on boundaries of foraging and distribution of possible nesting sites fail to explain the coloniality of the cliff swallows. Since the assumptions in the geometrical model are not applicable to all natural populations, they cannot be used to explain avian coloniality.

Behavior, Birds, Nestlings, Cliff swallows, Cliff swallow

---

On the determinants of extinction

Article Abstract:

The determinants of the probability of extinction are defined by analyzing environmental factors in relation with species characteristics. The extinction of bird species from the islands surrounding Britain is determined using Cox regression analysis. The factors of body size, population size and island attributes are found to be inter-correlated. Extinction risk for small populations of small-bodied birds on oceanic islands is greater than that for large populations of large-bodied birds in protected islands.

Extinction (Biology)

Similar abstracts:

• Abstracts: Introduction: experimental approaches to testing adaptation. Testing adaptationism: a comment on Orzack and Sober
• Abstracts: Erosional processes as a control on the structural evolution of an actively deforming fold and thrust belt: an example from the Pamir-Tien Shan region, central Asia
• Abstracts: The role of neighborhood competition in the spacing and diversity of ant communities. Regulation of "momentary" diversity by dominant species in exceptionally rich ant communities of the Australian seasonal tropics
• Abstracts: Patterns and consequences of interspecific competition in natural communities: a review of field experiments with plants

This website is not affiliated with document authors or copyright owners. This page is provided for informational purposes only. Unintentional errors are possible.