DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS IN BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY

被引:30
作者
STEPHENS, DW
DUNBAR, SR
机构
[1] School of Biological Sciences, Lincoln
[2] Department of Mathematics and Statistics, University of Nebraska Lincoln, Lincoln
基金
美国国家科学基金会;
关键词
MODELING; DIMENSIONAL ANALYSIS; UNITS; PURE NUMBERS; APPROXIMATIONS; MARGINAL-VALUE THEOREM; TERRITORIAL BEHAVIOR;
D O I
10.1093/beheco/4.2.172
中图分类号
B84 [心理学]; C [社会科学总论]; Q98 [人类学];
学科分类号
03 ; 0303 ; 030303 ; 04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
The mathematical technique of dimensional analysis is presented in the context of behavioral ecology. Dimensional analysis transforms the variables in a problem to a reduced set of unit-free variables. This transformation helps to reveal the nature of relationships among variables, simplifies modeling, and produces predictions that are readily compared across species and conditions. This paper illustrates the use of dimensional analysis by applying the technique to two well-known models from behavioral ecology: the marginal-value theorem and the cost-benefit model of territoriality. A dimensional analysis of the marginal-value theorem suggests the concept of standardized gain functions, which in turn allows us to present the first approximate analytical solution of the marginal-value theorem for an important class of gain functions. A dimensional analysis of the territoriality model reveals that some of the ''cost functions'' analyzed by earlier authors do not follow from their assumptions. This inconsistency is corrected in a ''dimensionless'' formulation of this classical model.
引用
收藏
页码:172 / 183
页数:12
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