Skip Navigation

American Zoologist 1987 27(3):825-837; doi:10.1093/icb/27.3.825
© 1987 by The Society for Integrative and Comparative Biology
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by DAVIS, D. E.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

Early Behavioral Research on Populations1

DAVID E. DAVIS
Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University Raleigh, North Carolina 27650

Research on populations of rats (Rattus norvegicus) in Baltimore beginning in 1943 suggested the hypothesis that aggressive behavior could regulate the numbers in a city block where food and shelter were adequate. A program of experiments using wild rats or laboratory mice justified publication of the aggressive behavior hypothesis in 1949. Continued research by Davis, Calhoun, Christian and graduate students showed that the number of rats in a city block returned towards an asymptote after a reduction in number, and that the introduction of alien rats was followed by a decline. Communication about the level of population was achieved by signals (visual, olfactory, auditory and tactile) that determined social status. Rates of reproduction declined and rates of mortality increased as the population increased. Various physiological mechanisms were explored but the mechanisms of communication were little studied before 1955.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.