Game Theory and Animal Behavior

by Dugatkin, Lee Alan; Reeve, Hudson Kern

• ISBN13: 9780195137903
• ISBN10: 0195137906
• Edition: Reprint
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-03-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Game theory has revolutionized the study of animal behavior. The fundamental principle of evolutionary game theory--that the strategy adopted by one individual depends on the strategies exhibited by others--has proven a powerful tool in uncovering the forces shaping otherwise mysterious behaviors. In this volume, the first since 1982 devoted to evolutionary game theory, leading researchers describe applications of the theory to diverse types of behavior, providing an overview of recent discoveries and a synthesis of current research. The volume begins with a clear introduction to game theory and its explanatory scope. This is followed by a series of chapters on the use of game theory to understand a range of behaviors: social foraging, cooperation, animal contests, communication, reproductive skew and nepotism within groups, sibling rivalry, alternative life-histories, habitat selection, trophic-level interactions, learning, and human social behavior. In addition, the volume includes a discussion of the relations among game theory, optimality, and quantitative genetics, and an assessment of the overall utility of game theory to the study of social behavior. Presented in a manner accessible to anyone interested in animal behavior but not necessarily trained in the mathematics of game theory, the book is intended for a wide audience of undergraduates, graduate students, and professional biologists pursuing the evolutionary analysis of animal behavior.

Table of Contents

Contributors	xiii
What Is Evolutionary Game Theory?	3	(13)
Peter Hammerstein
Game Theory and Social Foraging	16	(22)
Luc-Alain Giraldeau
Barbara Livoreil
Game Theory and Cooperation	38	(26)
Lee Alan Dugatkin
Game Theory and Animal Contests	64	(30)
Susan E. Riechert
Game Theory and Communication	94	(24)
Rufus A. Johnstone
Game Theory, Reproductive Skew, and Nepotism	118	(28)
Hudson Kern Reeve
Game Theory, Sibling Rivalry, and Parent-Offspring Conflict	146	(22)
Douglas W. Mock
Geoffrey A. Parker
P.L. Schwagmeyer
Game Theory and Inheritance in the Conditional Strategy	168	(20)
Mart R. Gross
Joe Repka
Game Theory and Habitat Selection	188	(33)
Joel S. Brown
Game Theory and Predator-Prey Response Races	221	(18)
Andrew Sih
Game Theory and Learning	239	(22)
David W. Stephens
Kevin C. Clements
Game Theory and Human Behavior	261	(22)
David Sloan Wilson
Game Theory, Optimization, and Quantitative Genetics	283	(21)
Richard Gomulkiewicz
Why We Need Evolutionary Game Theory	304	(8)
Hudson Kern Reeve
Lee Alan Dugatkin
Index	312