AN INTRODUCTION TO ENVIRONMENTAL ETHOLOGY:A PRELIMINARY COMPARISON OF SUBLETHAL THERMAL AND OIL STRESSES ON THE SOCIAL BEHAVIOR OF LOBSTERS, AND FISHES FROM A FRESHWATER AND A MARINE ECOSYSTEM

摘要

An environmental ethology founded upon the biological relation¬ships linking environmental stresses, animal behavior and organization and the development of ecosystems, is proposed. The concept of stress in relation to animal behavior and aquatic ecosystems has been rein¬terpreted. Extrinsic stresses have been separated into two categories:1. Historical stresses, for which animals have a prior evolutionary history (e.g. thermal pollution);2. Artificial stresses, those that have played little or no role in animal evolution (e.g.oil, chlorinated hydrocarbons, radioactive wastes) and are prímarily the products of man's technologies. Experiments evaluating the impact of the two classes of stress on the social organization and behavior of fishes and lobster are described.nA comparative behavioral analysis of 3 species of fish (golden shiner, pumpkinseed sunfish, and yellow bullhead) from a freshwater ecosystem was undertaken to develop an index of behavioral complexity, a prerequisite for relating behavioral type with resistance to sublethal stresses.