TLS Online TPP Program

#Question id: 12978


Why is territoriality an adaptive behavior for songbirds maintaining populations at or near their carrying capacity? 

#Unit 10. Ecological Principles
  1. Songbirds expend a tremendous amount of energy defending territories so that they spend less time feeding their young and fledgling mortality increases.
  2. Only  the  fittest males defend territories and  they attract the  fittest females so  the  best genes are  conveyed to the next generation.
  3. Songbird males defend territories commensurate with  the size  from which  they can derive adequate re- sources for themselves, their mate, and their chicks.
  4. Many individuals are killed in the ritualistic conflicts that go along with territorial defense.