Population and Community Ecology Populations as dynamic systems; environmental factors; population structure and demography; population growth; intraspecific interactions and predation; population dynamics; metapopulations; structure, properties, types, and development of communities; ecological niche theory; types and models of succession; convergence and divergence of communities; coevolution, food webs, and trophic cascades; compartmentalization of communities; the principle of nonlinearity; diversity and disturbance; species-area relationships; theory of island biogeography; properties and components of ecosystems; energy flow through ecosystems: primary and secondary production and ecosystem productivity; biomes; zoogeography - species ranges, dispersal, ecogeographical rules, historical versus present-day distributions; zoogeographical regions. Behavioral Ecology Hypotheses in behavioral ecology; proximate and ultimate mechanisms, fitness and adaptation, costs and benefits; optimization of behavior; optimal foraging behavior - theoretical models and the economics of decision-making; predator-prey relationships and the main theories of antipredator behavior; parasite-host relationships and coevolution; competition for resources and theoretical models; group living and theoretical models of optimal group size; contests, assessment, matching, and fighting between rivals; mating systems and parental care, the polygyny threshold model; sexual conflict and sexual selection, principles and genetic and non-genetic benefits; Fisher's and Zahavi's theories; alternative reproductive strategies and evolutionarily stable strategies; altruism; ecology and evolution of animal communication.
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