S. Halle, N.C. Stenseth
Description
Environmental conditions change considerably in the course of 24 h with respect to abiotic factors and intra- and interspecific interactions. These ch
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anges result in limited time windows of opportunity for animal activities and, hence, the question of when to do what is subject to fitness maximisation.
This volume gives a current overview of theoretical considerations and empirical findings of activity patterns in small mammals, a group in which the energetic and ecological constraints are particularly severe and the diversity of activity patterns is particularly high. Following a comparative ecological approach, for the first time activity timing is consequently treated in terms of behavioural and evolutionary ecology, providing the conceptual framework for chronoecology as a new subdiscipline within behavioural ecology. An extensive Appendix gives an introduction to methods of activity modelling and to tools for statistical pattern analysis.
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