Open AccessWhat Do Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior Have in Common? The Organism in the Middle
Author(s) -
Ellen D. Ketterson
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
the american naturalist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.954
H-Index - 205
eISSN - 1537-5323
pISSN - 0003-0147
DOI - 10.1086/709699
Subject(s) - organism , ecology , wonder , natural selection , population ecology , biology , naturalism , population , evolutionary ecology , behavioral ecology , divergence (linguistics) , environmental ethics , sociology , epistemology , demography , paleontology , philosophy , linguistics , host (biology)
Biologists who publish in The American Naturalist are drawn to its unifying mission of covering research in the fields of ecology, evolution, behavior, and integrative biology. Presented here is one scientist's attempt to straddle these fields by focusing on a single organism. It is also an account of how time spent in the field stimulates a naturalist to wonder "why did that animal just do that?" and how research is guided by chance and intention interacting with the scientific literature and the people one meets along the way. With respect to the science, the examples come from bird migration, hormones and their connection to phenotypic integration, sexual and natural selection, and urban ecology. They also come from research on the impact of environmental change on the timing of reproduction and the potential for allochrony in migratory species to influence population divergence.