In this exercise, you will investigate some innate (inherited, as opposed to learned) behaviors of isopods. In your observations, consider if the isopods are engaging in kinesis or taxis (positive or negative).
Ethology is the study of animal behavior. Many behaviors involve the movement of the animal within its environment.
Ethologists assess various behaviors by placing documented behavior in simple categories. Once the behaviors in these categories are tallied, ethologists can determine the entire lifestyle of the organism, gaining a complete picture of the animal’s existence. Ethology investigates not only what happens in an animal’s existence, but also why it happens. In every ecosystem, organisms are influenced by limiting factors, which are biotic or abiotic factors that regulate the maximum size of a given population and a relatively narrow range of environmental conditions that are favorable to them and their offspring. Since most organisms cannot change the nature of their environment, they must position themselves in an environment with favorable conditions. This behavior is called habitat selection.
Orientation is the process by which animals position themselves with respect to spatial features of their environments. Kinesis is random turning or movement of an animal in relation to a stimulus. Taxis involves the turning of an animal’s body relative to a stimulus. For example, positive taxis is an animal moving toward an object, area, or stimulus. Negative taxis involves an animal moving away from an object, area, or stimulus.
