abstract: Parental care provides many benefits to offspring. One widely realized benefit is enhanced regulation of offspring's thermal environment. The developmental thermal environment during development can be optimized behaviorally through nest site selection and brooding, and it can be further enhanced by physiological heat production. In fact, enhancement of the developmental thermal environment has been proposed as the initial driving force for the evolution of endothermy in bird and mammals. I used pythons (Squamata: Pythonidae) to expand existing knowledge of behavioral and physiological parental tactics used to regulate offspring thermal environment. I first demonstrated that brooding behavior in the Children's python (Antaresia childreni) is largely driven by internal mechanisms, similar to solitary birds, suggesting that the early evolution of the parent-offspring association was probably hormonally driven. Two species of python are known to be facultatively thermogenic (i.e., are endothermic during reproduction). I expand current knowledge of thermogenesis in Burmese pythons (Python molurus) by demonstrating that females use their own body temperature to modulate thermogenesis. Although pythons are commonly cited as thermogenic, the actual extent of thermogenesis within the family Pythonidae is unknown. Thus, I assessed the thermogenic capability of five previously unstudied species of python to aid in understanding phylogenetic, morphological, and distributional influences on thermogenesis in pythons. Results suggest that facultative thermogenesis is likely rare among pythons. To understand why it is rare, I used an artificial model to demonstrate that energetic costs to the female likely outweigh thermal benefits to the clutch in species that do not inhabit cooler latitudes or lack large energy reserves. In combination with other studies, these results show that facultative thermogenesis during brooding in pythons likely requires particular ecological and physiological factors for its evolution. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Biology 2012

Made available in DSpace on 2014-12-17T15:37:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 AlvaroCBG_DISSERT.pdf: 3916375 bytes, checksum: 808b5d48fcc610be37f32fdfdc7f716a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2010-08-28 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior / The new Evolutionary Psychology (E. P.) paradigm has been trying to understand how the human beings make their decisions over time regarding the most diverse variables, always bearing in mind that such a cognitive process is due to a complex natural selection process that occurred millions of years ago. One of the main topics discussed by this new paradigm is the issue of parental investment, i.e., the care the parents provide to an offspring at the expense of the investment into a new one. The present work sought to integrate these two topics, trying to understand how some variables modulate the process of decision making in a sample of the city of Natal, Rio Grande do Norte state. It was investigated the hypothesis that the presence of both parents, along the individual development, could signal a more favorable environment, providing clues to the individual that he could assume a competitive position at the socio-biological market. His decisions, therefore, could be guided by long-term investments with aims to obtain more robust rewards. On the contrary, those who has suffered for some moment the absence of one the parents could develop theirselves in a not so competitive way, starting to choose immediate benefits - but lesser ones -, since the future would be less predictable due to their worse development conditions. This study involved 152 individuals from three higher education institutions, one of them being public and the others being private ones. In the results found, there was no difference between children of coupled parents and children of deceased or divorced parents concerning discount rates. The levels of hopelessness did not affect the discount rates of children of single parents when compared to children of coupled parents. Not having one of the parents because of divorce made the child to tend to present lower scores in the domain of social relations of WHOQOL - Bref, whilst the absence of the father by death made the scores lower in the domain of environment. The results indicate that loosing one of the parents along the development influences the individual's quality of life perception, but the measurement method of future discounting rates by means of financial choices is not sensitive to this variation / O novo paradigma da Psicologia Evolucionista (P.E.) vem tentando compreender como os seres humanos tomam suas decis?es ao longo do tempo levando em conta as mais diversas vari?veis, tendo sempre em mente que tal processo cognitivo ? tribut?rio de um complexo processo de sele??o natural ocorrido nos milh?es de anos que se passaram. Um dos principais temas discutidos por este novo paradigma ? a quest?o do investimento parental, ou seja, o cuidado fornecido pelos pais a uma prole ?s custas do investimento em outra. O presente trabalho buscou integrar esses dois temas, tentando compreender como algumas vari?veis modulam o processo de tomada de decis?es de uma amostra do munic?pio de Natal, Estado do Rio Grande do Norte. Investigou-se a hip?tese de que a presen?a de ambos os pais, ao longo de desenvolvimento individual, poderia sinalizar um ambiente mais favor?vel, fornecendo ao sujeito pistas de que ele pode assumir uma posi??o competitiva no mercado s?cio-biol?gico. Suas decis?es, portanto, poderiam ser pautadas pelo investimento de longo prazo com vistas ? obten??o de recompensas mais robustas. Ao contr?rio, aquele que em algum momento sofreu a aus?ncia de um dos pais poderia se desenvolver de modo n?o t?o competitivo, passando a escolher benef?cios imediatos, por?m menores, uma vez que o futuro lhe seria menos previs?vel devido ?s suas piores condi??es de desenvolvimento. Neste estudo participaram 152 sujeitos oriundos de tr?s Institui??es de Ensino Superior, sendo uma p?blica e duas privadas. Pelos resultados encontrados n?o houve diferen?a entre filhos de pais unidos e filhos de pais separados ou falecidos no que concerne ?s taxas de desconto. Os n?veis de desesperan?a tamb?m n?o influenciaram as taxas de desconto dos filhos de pais separados nem dos filhos de pais falecidos, quando comparados aos filhos de pais unidos. N?o ter um dos pais por motivo de separa??o fez com que o filho tendesse a apresentar escores mais baixos no dom?nio das rela??es sociais do WHOQOL Bref e quando o pai estava ausente por motivo de falecimento os escores foram mais baixos no dom?nio de meio ambiente. Os resultados indicam que perder um dos pais ao longo do desenvolvimento influencia a percep??o de qualidade de vida do sujeito, mas o m?todo de mensura??o de taxa de desconto de futuro por meio de escolhas financeiras n?o ? sens?vel a essa varia??o

Des études récentes indiquent que des précurseurs de la morale humaine pourraient exister chez les animaux non humains. Parmi ces précurseurs, la prosocialité (comportements produisant un bénéfice pour un receveur sans nécessairement induire de coût pour l’acteur) est considérée comme une composante fondamentale de tout système moral. Nous avons effectué des tests de prosocialité chez plusieurs espèces de mammifères et d’oiseaux, en tenant compte des facteurs d’identité des individus (tolérance, dominance, sexe) et de comportement du receveur (communication, réciprocité). Nos sujets se sont montrés plus prosociaux envers leurs subordonnés qu’envers leurs dominants, ce qui suggèrent que la prosocialité pourrait être utilisée comme un moyen de maintenir son rang. Nous avons observé des différences entre les sexes cohérentes avec le pattern de soins parentaux des espèces, appuyant l’idée selon laquelle la prosocialité aurait évolué dans un contexte de soins aux jeunes. La période de reproduction et le fait d’avoir ou d’avoir eu des petits entraînaient une augmentation de la prosocialité, surtout envers le partenaire de reproduction et ses petits, ce qui pourrait avoir pour but de mieux transmettre ses gènes. Nous avons trouvé des patterns de réciprocité directe chez nos sujets, devenant plus prosociaux lorsque le receveur s’était lui-même montré prosocial lors de la session précédente. Les communications émises par le receveur ont également influencé positivement ou négativement (selon leur nature) les choix du sujet. L’ensemble de nos résultats montrent qu’il est possible et souhaitable d’étudier la prosocialité en dehors des primates, nos sujets s’étant montrés capables de prendre en compte à la fois des facteurs d’identité du receveur et son comportement. / Recent studies indicate that precursors of human morality may exist in non human animals. Among these precursors, prosociality (behaviours that produce a benefit for a recipient without necessarily involving a cost for the actor) is considered a fundamental component of any moral system. We conducted prosociality tests in several species of mammals and birds, taking into account factors of individuals’ identity (tolerance, hierarchical ranks, sex) and of recipients behaviours (communication, reciprocity). Our subjects were more prosocial toward their subordinates than toward their dominants, suggesting that prosociality could be used as a way to maintain its own rank. We reported differences between sexes consistent with the parental care pattern of the species, supporting the idea that prosociality would have evolved with parental care. The reproductive period and (even more) having (or having had) young seemed to increase the subjects’ prosociality, especially towards their reproductive mate and their offspring, which could be interpreted as behaviours that ultimately spread their own genes. We found patterns of direct reciprocity, our subjects becoming more prosocial when the recipient was prosocial in the previous session. Communications from the recipient also influenced positively or negatively (depending on their nature) the subjects' choices. All of our results show that it is possible and desirable to study prosociality outside primates, our subjects having been able to take into account both the recipient's identity and its behaviour.

Submitted by Sandra Pereira (srpereira@ufrrj.br) on 2017-05-30T13:10:48Z No. of bitstreams: 1 2012 - N?taly Fernandes Corr?a.pdf: 684932 bytes, checksum: 7c9c015d84225dfd92d1f81dd4614fb7 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-05-30T13:10:48Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 2012 - N?taly Fernandes Corr?a.pdf: 684932 bytes, checksum: 7c9c015d84225dfd92d1f81dd4614fb7 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-02-16 / Coordena??o de Aperfei?oamento de Pessoal de N?vel Superior- CAPES / Previous studies in Sepetiba Bay, RJ, recorded calves and juveniles of Guiana dolphin through all seasons. However few is know about the behaviors of parental care for this species. The main objective of this work was to investigate the behavior of parental care in Sotalia guianensis population of Sepetiba Bay. The film clips used in this study were recorded in 30 boat trips conducted in the bay from December 2000 to August 2001. The evaluation of the parental care degree was conducted using two measures: longitudinal care and transversal care. When the mother located itself longitudinally ahead of its offspring (longitudinal position 1) or when it was between the boat and the offspring (transversal position 1) the parental care were registered. However, there was not care when the mother located itself behind its offspring (longitudinal position 2) or when the mother left its offspring to be between the boat and it (transversal position 2). The influence of three variables was tested: group size, behavior state of the group (feeding and traveling) and age class (calve and juvenile). From the total of 39,840 second of observation, 946 mother-calf dyads were recorded, and the results of the analyses of the kinds of care conducted separately revealed that the longitudinal care was present in 84.7% of the time and the transversal care in 57.7%. The time spent by the offspring on each longitudinal position (1 and 2) was statistically different (U=58,033.50; p=0.02), receiving care during the median of 37 seconds. About the transversal care, there was not significant difference in the time that offspring received care. The group size was statistically different when the mother located itself longitudinally ahead of its offspring or not (U=151,525.50; p<0.01), the median of group size for position 1 was 15 individuals, while for position 2 was 12. In relation to the mother position between the boat or not, there was also significant variation (U=97,074.00; p=0.03), the median of group size for transversal position 1 was 15 individuals and for position 2 was 14 animals. Was identified significant influence of the behavior state of the group on longitudinal care, and that care is intensely performed at feeding (N= 946; H3=17.60; p<0.01). The immatures of Sepetiba Bay population have benefited from intense parental care, mainly during the feeding activities and in large groups. The care is similarly offered to calves and juveniles, longitudinally and transversally, suggesting a parent-offspring conflict of interest. / Estudos anteriores na Ba?a de Sepetiba, RJ, registraram a presen?a de filhotes e juvenis de botos-cinzas (S. guianensis) durante todas as esta??es do ano, no entanto, pouco ? conhecido sobre o comportamento de cuidado aos imaturos da esp?cie. Este trabalho objetivou investigar o comportamento de cuidado parental da popula??o de botos-cinzas na Ba?a de Sepetiba. Foram utilizados clipes das filmagens gravadas em 30 expedi??es conduzidas na ba?a entre dezembro de 2000 e agosto de 2001. A avalia??o do grau de cuidado parental foi conduzida utilizando duas medidas: cuidado longitudinal e cuidado transversal. Quando a m?e se posicionava longitudinalmente ? frente da prole (posi??o longitudinal 1) ou entre o barco e a prole (posi??o transversal 1) foi registrado o cuidado parental. Entretanto, n?o havia cuidado quando a m?e se localizava atr?s do imaturo (posi??o longitudinal 2) ou deixando o imaturo entre ela e a embarca??o (posi??o transversal 2). Foi testada a influ?ncia de tr?s vari?veis no grau de cuidado parental: tamanho de grupo, estado comportamental do grupo (pesca e deslocamento) e classe et?ria da prole (filhote e juvenil). De um total 39.840 segundos de observa??o, foram registrados 946 pares de m?e e imaturo, e os resultados das an?lises dos tipos de cuidados conduzidas separadamente revelaram que o cuidado longitudinal esteve presente em 84,7% do tempo e o cuidado transversal em 57,7%. O tempo em que a prole esteve em cada posi??o longitudinal (1 e 2) foi estatisticamente diferente (U=58033,50; p=0,02), recendo cuidado da m?e durante a mediana de 37 segundos. Em rela??o ao cuidado transversal, n?o houve diferen?a significativa no tempo em que a prole recebia cuidado. O tamanho do grupo foi estatisticamente diferente quando a m?e se posicionou longitudinalmente ? frente da prole ou n?o (U=151525,50; p<0,01), a mediana para a posi??o 1 foi de 15 indiv?duos, enquanto na posi??o 2 de 12 indiv?duos. Houve tamb?m varia??o significativa em rela??o ao posicionamento da m?e entre o barco ou n?o (U=97074,00; p=0,03), a mediana na posi??o transversal 1 foi de 15 indiv?duos e na posi??o 2 de 14 indiv?duos. Foi encontrada influ?ncia significativa do estado comportamental do grupo apenas sobre o cuidado longitudinal e tal cuidado ? intensamente realizado na pesca (N= 946; H3=17,60; p<0,01). Na popula??o da Ba?a de Sepetiba, os imaturos se beneficiam de intenso cuidado parental, principalmente durante as atividades de pesca e em grupos numerosos. O cuidado ? investido de maneira similar aos filhotes e juvenis, tanto longitudinal quanto transversalmente, sugerindo um conflito de interesses entre os pais e a prole.

Orientadores: João Vasconcellos Neto, Gustavo Quevedo Romero / Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Instituto de Biologia / Made available in DSpace on 2018-08-22T08:37:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Zanatta_MateusFornazari_M.pdf: 1558379 bytes, checksum: 8b7c43c47346a21b0fb6f2df8d0e504c (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013 / Resumo: As aranhas apresentam uma grande variedade de estilos de vida, comportamentos e interações ecológicas, mas pouco se sabe sobre a história natural da maioria delas. Existe uma diversidade de formas de cuidado materno em aranhas e ele costuma ser essencial para a proteção e sobrevivência da prole. A seleção de um local adequado para depositar os ovos é uma das primeiras e mais importantes decisões tomadas pelas fêmeas e pode afetar o desenvolvimento dos ovos, a capacidade de proteção das mães e a facilidade para obter alimento. Aysha piassaguera é uma aranha cursorial da família Anyphaenidae e suas fêmeas constroem ninhos em folhas de plantas da borda da mata, onde depositam seus ovos e cuidam deles até a eclosão e dispersão dos filhotes. Nesse trabalho estudamos alguns aspectos de sua história de vida, mais especificamente seu desenvolvimento (capítulo 1), preferência por locais para construção dos ninhos e oviposição (capítulo 2) e função de seu comportamento parental na sobrevivência dos ovos (capítulo 3). Para o estudo do desenvolvimento, coletamos algumas ootecas e criamos as aranhas em laboratório. As fêmeas depositaram em média 123,7 ovos, que levaram 14 dias para eclodir e mais 9,88 dias para dispersar. As aranhas emergiram já no 2º instar, onde a taxa de mortalidade foi maior (20,51%), cada instar durou em média 27,28 dias, a maturidade sexual foi atingida em torno do 11º instar, após uma média de 250,36 dias após a eclosão, sobrevivendo 77,68 dias como adultas. Investigamos se havia preferência por locais para construção dos ninhos em relação à altura do substrato (próximo ao solo ou à copa) e ao grupo de plantas (Monocotiledôneas ou Dicotiledôneas) comparando a proporção de ninhos construídos nesses lugares, além de analisarmos o quanto algumas características foliares (Razão comprimento/largura, Espessura, Força de dobra e MFA - massa foliar por área) explicam a utilização das folhas para a construção dos ninhos. Os ninhos foram construídos em maior proporção na região próxima ao solo e em Monocotiledôneas, algo possivelmente relacionado ao modo de vida errante e arbustivo desta aranha e ao formato alongado das folhas dessas plantas. Inclusive, a característica foliar que melhor explicou a utilização das folhas foi a Razão comprimento/largura, com folhas mais compridas sendo preferidas, provavelmente por permitirem a construção de um ninho mais simétrico e fechado. Considerando o cuidado materno, testamos a influência da presença da mãe e dos ninhos na sobrevivência dos ovos em três tratamentos: Controle (mãe presente e ninho fechado), Sem Mãe (mãe ausente e ninho fechado) e Aberto (mãe ausente e ninho aberto). A sobrevivência foi maior no Controle do que nos outros dois tratamentos, entre os quais não houve diferença. Como a principal causa de mortes foi ataques de inimigos naturais, isso sugere que a presença da mãe é importante para a proteção dos ovos, enquanto o abrigo sozinho é pouco eficiente nisso. Apesar disso, ele poderia influenciar na manutenção de um microambiente propício ao desenvolvimento dos ovos ou facilitar a defesa dos ovos pela fêmea / Abstract: Spiders display a wide range of lifestyles, behaviors and ecological interactions, but little is known about the natural history of the majority of them. There is a great variety of forms of maternal care in spiders and it is usually essential for the protection and survival of offspring. Selecting an appropriate site for egg laying is one of the first and most important decisions made by females and may affect egg development, the protective ability of mothers and the facility to obtain food. Aysha piassaguera is an anyphaenid hunting spider in which females build box-like nests by folding leaves of forest edge plants, in which females lay their eggs and guard them until hatching and dispersal. In this work we studied some aspects of its life history, particularly, its development (chapter 1), preference for nest building and oviposition sites (Chapter 2) and the effect of parental behavior on egg survival (chapter 3). To study development, we collected egg sacs and reared the spiderlings in the laboratory. Females laid on average 123,7 eggs per egg sac, eggs took 14 days to hatch and another 9,9 days for spiderlings to start dispersing. Spiderlings emerged already in the second instar, which had the higher death rate (20,5%). Each instar lasted 27,3 days, on average, and spiders reached sexual maturity around the 11º instar. From emergence it took an average of 250,4 days for a spider to become adult and the adults survived 77,68 days. We investigated whether females displayed preference for nest construction sites concerning substrate high (near the ground or on plants crowns) and group of plants (monocotyledons or dicotyledons) by comparing the proportion of nests built on those places and we also verified how much some leaf traits (length/width ratio, thickness, folding force and LMA - leaf mass per area) explain the use of leaves for nest construction. Female built their nests mainly near the ground and on monocots, which could be related to this being a wandering species that hunts and takes cover on the lower part of the substrate and to the elongated shape of these plants' leaves, for the leaf trait that best explained leaf use was length/width ratio, with females preferring longer leaves, probably because elongated leaves allow the construction of a more symmetric and sealed nest. Concerning maternal care, we tested whether the presence of the mother and the nest affects egg survival using three treatments: Control (nests intact and mother present), Motherless (nest intact and mother removed) and Opened (nest opened and mother removed). Survival was higher on Control treatment than on the other two, which did not differ between each other. Considering that natural enemies' attacks were the main cause of deaths, this shows how the mother presence is crucial for egg protection, whereas the nest has no role in it. Nevertheless, they may help on the maintenance of a proper microenvironment for egg development or make it easier for the females to defend the eggs / Mestrado / Ecologia / Mestre em Ecologia

4 ANNOTATION The diploma thesis deals with parental behavior and recognition of youngs by two kinds of desert geckos of genus Teratoscincus, specifically T. scincus and T. keyserlingii. The geckos inhabit a very extreme environment where it is not easy to survive, especially for the small hatchlings. Therefore, it is probable that small hatchlings live together with their parents in their territory for some time. If the parents tolerated them inside their territory, they would provide them with an indirect form of parental care. In the first part of the thesis the hypothesis that adults tolerate to the presence of juvenile conspecifics and heterospecifics (Eublepharis macularius) was tested. The main goal was to determine whether adults tolerate juveniles generally or whether they recognize juveniles conspecifics. To support the hypothesis of the adults' tolerance of juveniles the eggs of the adult geckos living in pair were left in their terrarium until the hatching of the juvenile. Further, the reaction of adult geckos to the presence of a E. macularius juvenile (small), admitted into the terrarium, was tested. The aim was to find out whether the two kinds of geckos, preying other geckoes in the nature, show predatory behavior toward the E. macularius. The standard experiment was carried out in the second...

Small carpenter bees (genus Ceratina) are an excellent model taxon for the study of evolution of parental care and origin of eusociality. Prolonged offspring care is typical for this bee genus. Females usually guard their offspring until adulthood and later feed their adult offspring pollen and nectar. Moreover, most of studied species are facultatively eusocial, a trait probably inherited from the common ancestor of the genus. Although Ceratina bees have generally very interesting behavior, detailed studies were performed in only a few species, usually from North America, Japan and Australia. Only anecdotal observations of natural history existed for a few European species, and detailed research has not been performed before my thesis. The goal of my thesis is to explore the natural history of European species of Ceratina and to identify possible costs and benefits of this species' behavioral traits. I focused on following these behavioral traits: social nesting, guarding of offspring until adulthood, and feeding of mature offspring. Through my master project, I discovered biparental care in species C. nigrolabiata, therefore the most important goal of my Ph.D. project is the evaluation of costs and benefits of this behavior. Guarding of offspring by mother significantly influences their survival,...

Orientador: Carmen Maria Bueno Neme / Resumo: Os transtornos alimentares em adolescentes constituem parcela significativa da demanda clínica da atualidade. Tratam-se de modalidades de sofrimento e de adoecimento humano que se constituem com base em um modelo etiológico multifatorial composto pela inter-relação de fatores familiares, individuais, sociais e biológicos, cuja complexidade se configura como problema de saúde pública e, ainda, um desafio para a compreensão teórica e o manejo clínico psicológico. A questão central deste estudo é a associação entre as relações de cuidados parentais e a manifestação dos transtornos alimentares em adolescentes. Pressupõe-se que as relações de cuidado entre os pais e o filho(a) perpassam, inevitavelmente, as relações alimentares e contribuem para a constituição da saúde mental ou, ainda, para distorções e fraturas no processo de desenvolvimento emocional que podem predispor o indivíduo à vulnerabilidade psicopatológica própria dos transtornos alimentares. Deste modo, este estudo buscou compreender os significados e as experiências afetivo-emocionais associados às relações de cuidado na perspectiva de uma adolescente acometida por bulimia nervosa e seus pais. Trata-se de um estudo de caso descritivo com enfoque qualitativo, orientado pelo método psicanalítico. Os instrumentos utilizados para a coleta de dados foram a entrevista clínica semiestruturada aplicada individualmente a cada membro da tríade e o Procedimento de Desenhos-Estórias com Tema, usado como recurso mediador dialógic... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Abstract: Eating disorders in adolescents constitute a significant portion of the current clinical demand. These are modalities of suffering and human illness that are based on a multifactorial etiological model composed by the interrelation of family, individual, social and biological factors, which complexity is configured as a public health problem and still a challenge for theoretical understanding and clinical psychological management. The central issue of this study is the association between parental care relationships and the manifestation of eating disorders in adolescents. It is assumed that the care relationships between the parents and the child inevitably permeate dietary relationships and contribute to the constitution of mental health or, still, to distortions and fractures in the emotional development process that may predispose the individual to the psychopathological vulnerability inherent in eating disorders. Thus, this study aimed to understand the meanings and affective-emotional experiences associated with care relationships from the perspective of a teenager with bulimia nervosa and her parents. This is a descriptive case study with a qualitative approach, guided by the psychoanalytic method. The instruments used for data collection were the semi-structured clinical interview applied individually to each member of the triad and the Procedure of Drawings-Stories with Theme, used as a dialogical mediating resource, focusing on the depth of the experiences associate... (Complete abstract click electronic access below) / Doutor

The behavior of humans and animals is an important component of conservation. The way people behave can cause environmental harm, but it also can be a solution to conservation challenges. Similarly, wildlife can respond to changing environments in ways that are detrimental to their survival, but they can also in some cases adapt or even thrive in human-impacted environments. In this dissertation, I discuss the ways in which human and hellbender behaviors relate to conservation. First, using survey and interview data, I explore the reasons why private landowners allow access to their property for research. I find that landowners are more likely to allow research on their property if they have previously allowed research, if they are interested in learning about the research taking place, if they have larger properties, and if they had positive attitudes towards conservation. Conversely, they are less likely to allow access to their property if they are concerned that doing so might restrict free use of their property. Other possible predictors that I investigate, such as landowner demographics, landowner trust in science, and landowner attitudes towards hellbenders are not significant predictors of allowing research. I next explore the effects of engaging landowners in research either via citizen science or "traditional" private lands research where scientists work on the landowner's property, but the landowner is not involved in data collection. I assess the effects of these types of engagement on landowner conservation knowledge, attitudes, awareness, and behavioral intentions and compare the effects across these two treatment groups and a control. I find similar changes in both the traditional and citizen science treatment groups, with involvement in the research leading to greater conservation knowledge, increased awareness of conservation concerns, more positive attitudes towards conservation, and/or more conservation behavioral intentions. However, I observe limited behavior change in any treatment group, and I identify a lack of efficacy and a hesitancy to accept responsibility for water quality degradation as possible barriers to behavior change. My investigations of animal behavior utilize custom-built underwater infrared camera technology to study hellbender reproductive behavior. I first add to current understanding of hellbender breeding behavior by describing the basic hellbender mating sequence, identifying the presence of potential alternative mating tactics, and describing two novel behaviors, including possible signal production via wave-based communication and a unique egg laying behavior by female hellbenders. I then measure the extent to which hellbender males (which provide the parental care) may help protect their offspring from low oxygen and high siltation, and I assess the possibility of trade-offs between parental care behaviors that benefit the eggs and self-maintenance behaviors that benefit the parent. I find that guarding male hellbenders increase both their parental care behaviors and their self-maintenance behaviors in response to low dissolved oxygen, but that they also show evidence of a trade-off between the two, with males ceasing parental care in favor of self-maintenance at sufficiently low levels of dissolved oxygen. Males show no parental response to high levels of silt. My findings add to our understanding of human and animal behavior and highlight the importance of behavioral flexibility to conservation. I find that hellbenders can to some extent modify their behaviors to compensate for the impacts of poor stream management on their own and their offspring's health, and I find that engaging landowners in research can encourage changes in awareness, attitudes, and behavioral intentions regarding conservation. / Doctor of Philosophy / The behavior of humans and animals is an important component of conservation. The way people behave can cause environmental harm, but it also can be a solution to conservation challenges. Similarly, wildlife can respond to changing environments in ways that are detrimental to their survival, but they can also in some cases change to survive or even thrive in human-impacted environments. In this dissertation, I discuss the ways in which human and hellbender behaviors relate to conservation. First, using survey and interview data, I explore the reasons why private landowners allow access to their property for research. I find that landowners are more likely to allow research on their property if they have previously allowed research, if they are interested in learning about the research taking place, if they have larger properties, and if they had positive attitudes towards conservation. Conversely, they are less likely to allow access to their property if they are concerned that doing so might restrict free use of their property. Other possible predictors that I investigate, such as landowner age and sex, landowner trust in science, and landowner attitudes towards hellbenders are not significant predictors of allowing research. I next explore the effects of engaging landowners in research either via citizen science, where landowners help collect data, or "traditional" private lands research where scientists work on the landowner's property, but the landowner is not involved in data collection. I assess the effects of these types of engagement on landowner conservation knowledge, attitudes, awareness, and planned actions and compare the effects across these two treatment groups and a control. I find similar changes in both the traditional and citizen science treatment groups, with involvement in the research leading to greater conservation knowledge, increased awareness of conservation concerns, more positive attitudes towards conservation, and/or more conservation planned actions. However, I observe limited behavior change in any treatment group, and I identify a lack of perceived ability to make a difference among landowners and a hesitancy to accept responsibility for water quality decline as possible barriers to behavior change. My investigations of animal behavior use custom-built underwater night-vision cameras to study hellbender baby-making. I first add to current understanding of hellbender breeding behavior by describing basic hellbender mating activities, identifying the possibility that some males sneak into other male's nests to mate, and describing two new behaviors, including possible signal production via sound or vibration and a unique egg laying behavior by female hellbenders. I then measure how much hellbender males (which provide the parental care) may help protect their eggs from low oxygen and high dissolved dirt, and I assess the possibility of trade-offs between parental care behaviors that benefit the eggs and self-maintenance behaviors that benefit the parent. I find that guarding male hellbenders increase both their parental care behaviors and their self-maintenance behaviors in response to low dissolved oxygen, but that they also show evidence of a trade-off between the two, with males stopping parental care in favor of self-maintenance at low levels of dissolved oxygen. Males show no parental response to high levels of dissolved dirt. My findings add to our understanding of human and animal behavior and highlight the importance of behavioral flexibility to conservation. I find that hellbenders can to some extent change their behaviors to compensate for the impacts of poor stream management on their own and their children's health, and I find that engaging landowners in research can encourage changes in awareness, attitudes, and planned behaviors regarding conservation.

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