How territorial settlers predict the future: examples from
lizards
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Indirect assessment of habitat and territory quality.
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structural features of the habitat as cues to predation
risk, food supplies, etc.
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conspecifics as cues to habitat and territory quality
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Information acquisition during settlement, and changes in the
value of a given territory as a function of time.
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exploration, motor learning and the value of familiar space
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why non-events are important during the settlement
period
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Establishing social and spatial relationships with other
settlers
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establishing predictable social relationships among the
individuals that share a territorial neighborhood
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fights and the establishment of exclusive
boundaries between neighboring territory owners
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the importance of persistence and competition over space
Assigned reading:
Stamps, J. 1994. Territorial behavior: testing the assumptions. Advances in
the Study of Behavior, vol 23. Academic Press.