Ecomorphological

Behavioural studies

The work above is just one example of an ecomorphology based behavioural study. Studies of this variety are becoming increasingly important in the field. Behavioural studies interrelate functional and eco-morphology. Features such as locomotory ability in foraging birds have been shown to affect dietary preferences by studies of this type. Behavioural studies are particularly common in fisheries and in studying birds. Other studies attempt to relate ecomorphological findings with the dietary habits of species. Griffen and Mosblack (2011) investigated differences in diet and consumption rate as a function of gut ecomorphology. Indeed, gut volume was found to correlate positively to increasing metabolic rate. Ecomorphological studies can often be used to determine to presence of parasites in a given temporospatial context as parasite presence can alter host habitat use.