Amos Bouskila Senior Lecturer Ph.D. University of California, Davis, 1993 E-mail: bouskila@bgu.ac.il Phone (Office): 972 8 646 1278 Phone (Lab): 972 8 647 2624 Fax: 972 8 646 1710 Office: Building 40, Room 406 Personal Lab Site

Background

Behavioral ecology and its interplay with population and community ecology is a facinating field with great potential for the understanding of natural animal communities. Individual decisions related to predation (in both prey and predator) as well as reproductive decisions have a direct influence on the population and the community. Time and space utilization and how they are affected by environmental factors (such as moonlight) also have an important role in the game. In my studies I combine three main approaches: (a) theory is addressed with mathematical models; (b) observations and experiments are conducted in the field and (c) for more controlled conditions, experiments are conducted in semi-natural enclosures or in the lab. Models (particularly game theory models) generate hypotheses and predictions, and these are tested in experiments. Experimental results are sometimes used to increase model realism, and generate new hypotheses to be tested.

Current Projects

1) Foraging Games Between Gerbils and Foxes: Frequency-Dependent Behavior and Species Interactions. Desert rodents are engaged during foraging in a game both with other rodents and with their predators. Experiments with gerbils, foxes and snakes test predator-prey game theory models either in a semi-natural enclosure or in the field. The decisions of both prey and predators are investigated when they are provided with some or only a few behavioral options regarding foraging time and location.
2) Sustainable management of coastal dunes for biodiversity conservation. Although partially protected, the southern coastal dunes of Israel have been modifiedby bush encroachment, leading to changes i their unique species composition. In a collaboration with botanists and entomologists we characterize species composition in various types of dunes and in dunes from which the vegetation has been partially removed. We monitor rodents and reptiles and investigate impacts of habitat management both on distribution and on the behavior of species.
3) Genetic structure and population connectivity of endangered desert chameleons in different sandy areas. Blood samples are collected from different populations and the divergence between populations is tested using mtDNA.
4) Insect polyembryony: joint parent-offspring control of brood size. In polyembryonic parasitoid wasps, a clone of genetically identical embryos develops from one egg. In Copidosoma koehleri, one embryo from each female clone develops into a sterile soldier larva, which attacks competitors inside the host. We developed models and performed experiments to test their predictions regarding the control over brood size.
5) Evolutionary dynamics of the mixed breeding strategy in a haplo-diploid beetle. In the palm stone borer beetles, Coccotrypes dactyliperda mated females disperse and excavate brood chambers in the palm stones. Unfertilized eggs develop into haploid males, which are smaller than females. We developed models and tested their prediction of reproductive decisions, particularly regarding inbreeding.

Publications