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Siracusa ER, Pavez-Fox MA, Negron-Del Valle JE, Phillips D, Platt ML, Snyder-Mackler N, Higham JP, Brent LJN, Silk MJ. Social ageing can protect against infectious disease in a group-living primate. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2024:2024.03.09.584237. [PMID: 38559098 PMCID: PMC10979879 DOI: 10.1101/2024.03.09.584237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 04/04/2024]
Abstract
The benefits of social living are well established, but sociality also comes with costs, including infectious disease risk. This cost-benefit ratio of sociality is expected to change across individuals' lifespans, which may drive changes in social behaviour with age. To explore this idea, we combine data from a group-living primate for which social ageing has been described with epidemiological models to show that having lower social connectedness when older can protect against the costs of a hypothetical, directly transmitted endemic pathogen. Assuming no age differences in epidemiological characteristics (susceptibility to, severity, and duration of infection), older individuals suffered lower infection costs, which was explained largely because they were less connected in their social networks than younger individuals. This benefit of 'social ageing' depended on epidemiological characteristics and was greatest when infection severity increased with age. When infection duration increased with age, social ageing was beneficial only when pathogen transmissibility was low. Older individuals benefited most from having a lower frequency of interactions (strength) and network embeddedness (closeness) and benefited less from having fewer social partners (degree). Our study provides a first examination of the epidemiology of social ageing, demonstrating the potential for pathogens to influence evolutionary dynamics of social ageing in natural populations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin R. Siracusa
- School of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | | | | | - Daniel Phillips
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Arizona, USA
| | - Michael L. Platt
- Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
- Department of Marketing, University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Arizona, USA
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Arizona, USA
- School for Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Arizona, USA
| | - James P. Higham
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, USA
| | - Lauren J. N. Brent
- School of Psychology, Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
| | - Matthew J. Silk
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom
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2
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Smit N, Dezeure J, Sauvadet L, Huchard E, Charpentier MJ. Socially bonded females face more sexual coercion in a female-philopatric primate. iScience 2023; 26:107358. [PMID: 37766985 PMCID: PMC10520811 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/19/2023] [Revised: 05/09/2023] [Accepted: 07/07/2023] [Indexed: 09/29/2023] Open
Abstract
Sexual coercion is a manifestation of sexual conflict increasing male mating success while inflicting costs to females. Although previous work has examined inter-individual variation in male sexually coercive tactics, little is known about female counter-strategies. We investigated whether social bonding mitigates the extent of sexual coercion faced by female mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx), as a putative mechanism linking sociality to fitness. Surprisingly, females faced the most coercion from those males with whom they formed the strongest bonds, while the strength of a female-male bond was also positively correlated with coercion from all other males. Finally, greater social integration in the female network was positively correlated with coercion, through a direct 'public exposure' mechanism and not mediated by female reproductive success or retaliation potential. Altogether, this study shows that neither between- nor within-sex bonds are protective against sexual coercion and identifies, instead, a hidden cost of social bonding.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nikolaos Smit
- Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM), University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | | | | | - Elise Huchard
- Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM), University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
| | - Marie J.E. Charpentier
- Institute of Evolutionary Sciences of Montpellier (ISEM), University of Montpellier, CNRS, IRD, EPHE, Montpellier, France
- Department for the Ecology of Animal Societies, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Bücklestrasse 5, 78467 Konstanz, Germany
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3
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McLean EM, Moorad JA, Tung J, Archie EA, Alberts SC. Genetic variance and indirect genetic effects for affiliative social behavior in a wild primate. Evolution 2023; 77:1607-1621. [PMID: 37094802 PMCID: PMC10309972 DOI: 10.1093/evolut/qpad066] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2022] [Revised: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 04/20/2023] [Indexed: 04/26/2023]
Abstract
Affiliative social behaviors are linked to fitness components in multiple species. However, the role of genetic variance in shaping such behaviors remains largely unknown, limiting our understanding of how affiliative behaviors can respond to natural selection. Here, we employed the "animal model" to estimate environmental and genetic sources of variance and covariance in grooming behavior in the well-studied Amboseli wild baboon population. We found that the tendency for a female baboon to groom others ("grooming given") is heritable (h2 = 0.22 ± 0.048), and that several environmental variables-including dominance rank and the availability of kin as grooming partners-contribute to variance in this grooming behavior. We also detected small but measurable variance due to the indirect genetic effect of partner identity on the amount of grooming given within dyadic grooming partnerships. The indirect and direct genetic effects for grooming given were positively correlated (r = 0.74 ± 0.09). Our results provide insight into the evolvability of affiliative behavior in wild animals, including the possibility for correlations between direct and indirect genetic effects to accelerate the response to selection. As such they provide novel information about the genetic architecture of social behavior in nature, with important implications for the evolution of cooperation and reciprocity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Emily M McLean
- University Program in Genetics and Genomics, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
- Division of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, Oxford College, Emory University, Oxford, GA, United States
| | - Jacob A Moorad
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, Scotland
| | - Jenny Tung
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
- Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany
| | - Elizabeth A Archie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, United States
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, United States
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4
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Delmé C, Jackson N, Class B, Strickland K, Potvin DA, Frère CH. Adaptive significance of affiliative behaviour differs between sexes in a wild reptile population. Proc Biol Sci 2023; 290:20230805. [PMID: 37339740 PMCID: PMC10281801 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2023.0805] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 05/22/2023] [Indexed: 06/22/2023] Open
Abstract
In recent years, we have begun to appreciate that social behaviours might exhibit repeatable among-individual variation. Such behavioural traits may even covary and have critical evolutionary implications. Importantly, some social behaviours such as aggressiveness have been shown to provide fitness benefits, including higher reproductive success and survival. However, fitness consequences of affiliative behaviours, especially between or among sexes, can be more challenging to establish. Using a longitudinal behavioural dataset (2014-2021) collected on eastern water dragons (Intellagama lesueurii), we investigated whether various aspects of affiliative behaviour (i) were repeatable across years, (ii) covaried with each other at the among-individual level, and (iii) influenced individuals' fitness. In particular, we considered affiliative behaviours towards opposite-sex and same-sex conspecifics separately. We found that social traits were repeatable and covaried with each other similarly for both sexes. More notably, we found that male reproductive success was positively correlated with the number of female associates and the proportion of time spent with females, while females' reproductive success was not correlated with any of the measured social behaviour metrics. Overall, these findings suggest that selection may be acting differently on social behaviour of male and female eastern water dragons.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. Delmé
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - N. Jackson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - B. Class
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
- Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - K. Strickland
- Institute of Ecology and Evolution, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
| | - D. A. Potvin
- School of Science, Technology and Engineering, University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, Australia
| | - C. H. Frère
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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5
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Wice EW, Saltz JB. Indirect genetic effects for social network structure in Drosophila melanogaster. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2023; 378:20220075. [PMID: 36802774 PMCID: PMC9939268 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2022.0075] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/02/2022] [Accepted: 12/16/2022] [Indexed: 02/21/2023] Open
Abstract
The position an individual holds in a social network is dependent on both its direct and indirect social interactions. Because social network position is dependent on the actions and interactions of conspecifics, it is likely that the genotypic composition of individuals within a social group impacts individuals' network positions. However, we know very little about whether social network positions have a genetic basis, and even less about how the genotypic makeup of a social group impacts network positions and structure. With ample evidence indicating that network positions influence various fitness metrics, studying how direct and indirect genetic effects shape network positions is crucial for furthering our understanding of how the social environment can respond to selection and evolve. Using replicate genotypes of Drosophila melanogaster fruit flies, we created social groups that varied in their genotypic makeup. Social groups were videoed, and networks were generated using motion-tracking software. We found that both an individual's own genotype and the genotypes of conspecifics in its social group affect its position within a social network. These findings provide an early example of how indirect genetic effects and social network theory can be linked, and shed new light on how quantitative genetic variation shapes the structure of social groups. This article is part of a discussion meeting issue 'Collective behaviour through time'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric Wesley Wice
- Department of Biosciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
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6
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Egan ME, Pepin KM, Fischer JW, Hygnstrom SE, VerCauteren KC, Bastille‐Rousseau G. Social network analysis of white‐tailed deer scraping behavior: Implications for disease transmission. Ecosphere 2023. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.4434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/22/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Michael E. Egan
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois USA
- School of Biological Sciences Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois USA
| | - Kim M. Pepin
- National Wildlife Research Center United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, Wildlife Service Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Justin W. Fischer
- National Wildlife Research Center United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, Wildlife Service Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Scott E. Hygnstrom
- Wisconsin Center for Wildlife College of Natural Resources, University of Wisconsin‐Stevens Point Stevens Point Wisconsin USA
| | - Kurt C. VerCauteren
- National Wildlife Research Center United States Department of Agriculture, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Services, Wildlife Service Fort Collins Colorado USA
| | - Guillaume Bastille‐Rousseau
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois USA
- School of Biological Sciences Southern Illinois University Carbondale Illinois USA
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7
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Charpentier MJE, Poirotte C, Roura-Torres B, Amblard-Rambert P, Willaume E, Kappeler PM, Rousset F, Renoult JP. Mandrill mothers associate with infants who look like their own offspring using phenotype matching. eLife 2022; 11:79417. [PMCID: PMC9665846 DOI: 10.7554/elife.79417] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/12/2022] [Accepted: 10/03/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioral discrimination of kin is a key process structuring social relationships in animals. In this study, we provide evidence for discrimination towards non-kin by third-parties through a mechanism of phenotype matching. In mandrills, we recently demonstrated increased facial resemblance among paternally related juvenile and adult females indicating adaptive opportunities for paternal kin recognition. Here, we hypothesize that mandrill mothers use offspring’s facial resemblance with other infants to guide offspring’s social opportunities towards similar-looking ones. Using deep learning for face recognition in 80 wild mandrill infants, we first show that infants sired by the same father resemble each other the most, independently of their age, sex or maternal origin, extending previous results to the youngest age class. Using long-term behavioral observations on association patterns, and controlling for matrilineal origin, maternal relatedness and infant age and sex, we then show, as predicted, that mothers are spatially closer to infants that resemble their own offspring more, and that this maternal behavior leads to similar-looking infants being spatially associated. We then discuss the different scenarios explaining this result, arguing that an adaptive maternal behavior is a likely explanation. In support of this mechanism and using theoretical modeling, we finally describe a plausible evolutionary process whereby mothers gain fitness benefits by promoting nepotism among paternally related infants. This mechanism, that we call ‘second-order kin selection’, may extend beyond mother-infant interactions and has the potential to explain cooperative behaviors among non-kin in other social species, including humans.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Clémence Poirotte
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute of Primate Research
| | - Berta Roura-Torres
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute of Primate Research
- Projet Mandrillus, SODEPAL
| | | | | | - Peter M Kappeler
- Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology Unit, German Primate Center, Leibniz Institute of Primate Research
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8
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Genetic, maternal, and environmental influences on sociality in a pedigreed primate population. Heredity (Edinb) 2022; 129:203-214. [PMID: 36056208 PMCID: PMC9519975 DOI: 10.1038/s41437-022-00558-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/07/2021] [Revised: 07/26/2022] [Accepted: 07/28/2022] [Indexed: 11/09/2022] Open
Abstract
Various aspects of sociality in mammals (e.g., dyadic connectedness) are linked with measures of biological fitness (e.g., longevity). How within- and between-individual variation in relevant social traits arises in uncontrolled wild populations is challenging to determine but is crucial for understanding constraints on the evolution of sociality. We use an advanced statistical method, known as the 'animal model', which incorporates pedigree information, to look at social, genetic, and environmental influences on sociality in a long-lived wild primate. We leverage a longitudinal database spanning 20 years of observation on individually recognized white-faced capuchin monkeys (Cebus capucinus imitator), with a multi-generational pedigree. We analyze two measures of spatial association, using repeat sampling of 376 individuals (mean: 53.5 months per subject, range: 6-185 months per subject). Conditioned on the effects of age, sex, group size, seasonality, and El Niño-Southern Oscillation phases, we show low to moderate long-term repeatability (across years) of the proportion of time spent social (posterior mode [95% Highest Posterior Density interval]: 0.207 [0.169, 0.265]) and of average number of partners (0.144 [0.113, 0.181]) (latent scale). Most of this long-term repeatability could be explained by modest heritability (h2social: 0.152 [0.094, 0.207]; h2partners: 0.113 [0.076, 0.149]) with small long-term maternal effects (m2social: 0.000 [0.000, 0.045]; m2partners: 0.000 [0.000, 0.041]). Our models capture the majority of variance in our behavioral traits, with much of the variance explained by temporally changing factors, such as group of residence, highlighting potential limits to the evolvability of our trait due to social and environmental constraints.
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9
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Stronger maternal social bonds and higher rank are associated with accelerated infant maturation in Kinda baboons. Anim Behav 2022. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.04.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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10
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Brambilla A, von Hardenberg A, Canedoli C, Brivio F, Sueur C, Stanley CR. Long term analysis of social structure: evidence of age‐based consistent associations in male Alpine ibex. OIKOS 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.09511] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Alice Brambilla
- Dept of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, Univ. of Zurich Zurich Switzerland
- Alpine Wildlife Research Center, Gran Paradiso National Park Torino Italy
| | - Achaz von Hardenberg
- Conservation Biology Research Group, Dept of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Chester Chester UK
| | - Claudia Canedoli
- Dept of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Univ. of Milano Bicocca Milano Italy
| | | | - Cédric Sueur
- Univ. de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC UMR 7178 Strasbourg France
- Inst. Universitaire de France, Saint‐Michel 103 Paris France
| | - Christina R. Stanley
- Conservation Biology Research Group, Dept of Biological Sciences, Univ. of Chester Chester UK
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11
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Anderson JA, Lea AJ, Voyles TN, Akinyi MY, Nyakundi R, Ochola L, Omondi M, Nyundo F, Zhang Y, Campos FA, Alberts SC, Archie EA, Tung J. Distinct gene regulatory signatures of dominance rank and social bond strength in wild baboons. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2022; 377:20200441. [PMID: 35000452 PMCID: PMC8743882 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2020.0441] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/31/2021] [Accepted: 08/19/2021] [Indexed: 12/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The social environment is a major determinant of morbidity, mortality and Darwinian fitness in social animals. Recent studies have begun to uncover the molecular processes associated with these relationships, but the degree to which they vary across different dimensions of the social environment remains unclear. Here, we draw on a long-term field study of wild baboons to compare the signatures of affiliative and competitive aspects of the social environment in white blood cell gene regulation, under both immune-stimulated and non-stimulated conditions. We find that the effects of dominance rank on gene expression are directionally opposite in males versus females, such that high-ranking males resemble low-ranking females, and vice versa. Among females, rank and social bond strength are both reflected in the activity of cellular metabolism and proliferation genes. However, while we observe pronounced rank-related differences in baseline immune gene activity, only bond strength predicts the fold-change response to immune (lipopolysaccharide) stimulation. Together, our results indicate that the directionality and magnitude of social effects on gene regulation depend on the aspect of the social environment under study. This heterogeneity may help explain why social environmental effects on health and longevity can also vary between measures. This article is part of the theme issue 'The centennial of the pecking order: current state and future prospects for the study of dominance hierarchies'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jordan A. Anderson
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Amanda J. Lea
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, Carl Icahn Laboratory, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA
| | - Tawni N. Voyles
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Mercy Y. Akinyi
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya
| | - Ruth Nyakundi
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya
| | - Lucy Ochola
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya
| | - Martin Omondi
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya
| | - Fred Nyundo
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi 00502, Kenya
| | - Yingying Zhang
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Fernando A. Campos
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX 78249, USA
| | - Susan C. Alberts
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Elizabeth A. Archie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA
| | - Jenny Tung
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Duke Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, Toronto, Canada M5G 1M1
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12
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Patterson SK, Strum SC, Silk JB. Early life adversity has long-term effects on sociality and interaction style in female baboons. Proc Biol Sci 2022; 289:20212244. [PMID: 35105243 PMCID: PMC8808103 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2021.2244] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/09/2023] Open
Abstract
Social bonds enhance fitness in many group-living animals, generating interest in the processes that create individual variation in sociality. Previous work on female baboons shows that early life adversity and temperament both influence social connectedness in adulthood. Early life adversity might shape sociality by reducing ability to invest in social relationships or through effects on attractiveness as a social partner. We examine how females' early life adversity predicts sociality and temperament in wild olive baboons, and evaluate whether temperament mediates the relationship between early life adversity and sociality. We use behavioural data on 31 females to quantify sociality. We measure interaction style as the tendency to produce grunts (signals of benign intent) in contexts in which the vocalization does not produce immediate benefits to the actor. Early life adversity was negatively correlated with overall sociality, but was a stronger predictor of social behaviours received than behaviours initiated. Females who experienced less early life adversity had more benign interaction styles and benign interaction styles were associated with receiving more social behaviours. Interaction style may partially mediate the association between early life adversity and sociality. These analyses add to our growing understanding of the processes connecting early life experiences to adult sociality.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sam K. Patterson
- Department of Anthropology, New York University, New York, NY, USA
| | - Shirley C. Strum
- Department of Anthropology, University of California, San Diego, CA, USA,Uaso Ngiro Baboon Project, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Joan B. Silk
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA,Institute for Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
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13
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Abstract
Dispersal is a critical process that shapes the structure of wild animal populations. In species that form multi‐level societies, natal dispersal might be social (associating with a different social community while remaining near the natal area), spatial (moving away from the natal area while continuing to associate with the same community) or both social and spatial (associating with a different community and moving away from the natal area). For such species, classical spatial measures of dispersal, such as distance moved, might not capture social dispersal. We examined dispersal outcomes for 67 male and 70 female giraffe calves over 7 years in a large, unfenced, ecologically heterogeneous landscape. We tested predictions about the influence of sex, food availability, low‐ and high‐impact human settlements, and local giraffe population density on social or spatial dispersal, dispersal distance, and age of dispersal. We found that dispersal is sex‐specific, with females being predominately philopatric. When dispersing, both sexes did so at a mean of 4 years of age. Most (69% of total) young males dispersed, with 84% of male dispersers associating with a different adult female social community than that of their mother, but one in four of these dispersers remained spatially near to their natal area. For adolescent males that dispersed socially but not spatially, overlapping female social communities may represent a potential pool of unrelated mating partners without the risks of travelling to unfamiliar areas. Just 26% of young females dispersed and half of these continued to associate with the adult female social community into which they were born, confirming the importance of maintaining ties among females from calf to adulthood. Furthermore, individuals born farther from high‐impact human settlements were more likely to spatially or socially‐and‐spatially disperse, move greater distances from their natal areas, and disperse at a younger age. Our study highlights the potential importance of social structure in dispersal decisions, and of tracking social structure when studying dispersal in multi‐level societies, as effective dispersal can be attained without large‐scale spatial displacements.
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Affiliation(s)
- Luca Börger
- Department of Biosciences, Swansea University, Swansea, UK
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14
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Haave-Audet E, Besson AA, Nakagawa S, Mathot KJ. Differences in resource acquisition, not allocation, mediate the relationship between behaviour and fitness: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2021; 97:708-731. [PMID: 34859575 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12819] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/18/2021] [Revised: 11/17/2021] [Accepted: 11/22/2021] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Within populations, individuals often show repeatable variation in behaviour, called 'animal personality'. In the last few decades, numerous empirical studies have attempted to elucidate the mechanisms maintaining this variation, such as life-history trade-offs. Theory predicts that among-individual variation in behavioural traits could be maintained if traits that are positively associated with reproduction are simultaneously associated with decreased survival, such that different levels of behavioural expression lead to the same net fitness outcome. However, variation in resource acquisition may also be important in mediating the relationship between individual behaviour and fitness components (survival and reproduction). For example, if certain phenotypes (e.g. dominance or aggressiveness) are associated with higher resource acquisition, those individuals may have both higher reproduction and higher survival, relative to others in the population. When individuals differ in their ability to acquire resources, trade-offs are only expected to be observed at the within-individual level (i.e. for a given amount of resource, if an individual increases its allocation to reproduction, it comes at the cost of allocation to survival, and vice versa), while among individuals traits that are associated with increased survival may also be associated with increased reproduction. We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis, asking: (i) do among-individual differences in behaviour reflect among-individual differences in resource acquisition and/or allocation, and (ii) is the relationship between behaviour and fitness affected by the type of behaviour and the testing environment? Our meta-analysis consisted of 759 estimates from 193 studies. Our meta-analysis revealed a positive correlation between pairs of estimates using both survival and reproduction as fitness proxies. That is, for a given study, behaviours that were associated with increased reproduction were also associated with increased survival, suggesting that variation in behaviour at the among-individual level largely reflects differences among individuals in resource acquisition. Furthermore, we found the same positive correlation between pairs of estimates using both survival and reproduction as fitness proxies at the phenotypic level. This is significant because we also demonstrated that these phenotypic correlations primarily reflect within-individual correlations. Thus, even when accounting for among-individual differences in resource acquisition, we did not find evidence of trade-offs at the within-individual level. Overall, the relationship between behaviour and fitness proxies was not statistically different from zero at the among-individual, phenotypic, and within-individual levels; this relationship was not affected by behavioural category nor by the testing condition. Our meta-analysis highlights that variation in resource acquisition may be more important in driving the relationship between behaviour and fitness than previously thought, including at the within-individual level. We suggest that this may come about via heterogeneity in resource availability or age-related effects, with higher resource availability and/or age leading to state-dependent shifts in behaviour that simultaneously increase both survival and reproduction. We emphasize that future studies examining the mechanisms maintaining behavioural variation in populations should test the link between behavioural expression and resource acquisition - both within and among individuals. Such work will allow the field of animal personality to develop specific predictions regarding the mediating effect of resource acquisition on the fitness consequences of individual behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Elène Haave-Audet
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Bldg, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada
| | - Anne A Besson
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Bldg, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada.,Department of Zoology, University of Otago, P.O. Box 56, Dunedin, 9054, New Zealand
| | - Shinichi Nakagawa
- School of Biological, Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales, Sydney, NSW, 2052, Australia
| | - Kimberley J Mathot
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, CW 405, Biological Sciences Bldg, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada.,Canada Research Chair, Integrative Ecology, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, T6G 2E9, Canada
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15
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Flocking in birds increases annual adult survival in a global analysis. Oecologia 2021; 197:387-394. [PMID: 34498168 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-021-05023-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/22/2021] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
Abstract
Adaptive hypotheses for the evolution of group foraging in animals typically invoke enhanced foraging efficiency and reduced predation risk. Net benefits of group foraging in different species should translate into a survival advantage for group members. Despite numerous interspecific studies in birds and mammals, few have documented a survival advantage for group foraging species. Using a large dataset in birds (> 1100 species worldwide), I investigated whether annual adult apparent survival was higher in species that forage in flocks than in solitary species. Using a phylogenetic framework to account for relatedness among species and controlling for known correlates of adult survival in birds such as body size, clutch size, latitude, and diet, I documented a positive effect of flocking on annual adult apparent survival. The increase in survival was less pronounced in occasionally flocking species suggesting that the benefits of group foraging can depend on the frequency of its use. The results highlight how group foraging can increase fitness in animals.
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16
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Bray J, Feldblum JT, Gilby IC. Social bonds predict dominance trajectories in adult male chimpanzees. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2021.06.031] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/19/2023]
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17
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Feldblum JT, Krupenye C, Bray J, Pusey AE, Gilby IC. Social bonds provide multiple pathways to reproductive success in wild male chimpanzees. iScience 2021; 24:102864. [PMID: 34471859 PMCID: PMC8390850 DOI: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102864] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/27/2021] [Revised: 06/14/2021] [Accepted: 07/13/2021] [Indexed: 01/22/2023] Open
Abstract
In most male mammals, fitness is strongly shaped by competitive access to mates, a non-shareable resource. How, then, did selection favor the evolution of cooperative social bonds? We used behavioral and genetic data on wild chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) in Gombe National Park, Tanzania, to study the mechanisms by which male-male social bonds increase reproductive success. Social bonds increased fitness in several ways: first, subordinate males that formed strong bonds with the alpha male had higher siring success. Independently, males with larger networks of strong bonds had higher siring success. In the short term, bonds predicted coalition formation and centrality in the coalition network, suggesting that males benefit from being potential allies to numerous male rivals. In the long term, male ties influenced fitness via improved dominance rank for males that attain alpha status. Together, these results suggest that male bonds evolved in chimpanzees by affording both short- and long-term pathways to reproductive success.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joseph T. Feldblum
- Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Society of Fellows, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Corresponding author
| | - Christopher Krupenye
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
- Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, USA
- Department of Psychology, Durham University, Durham, UK
| | - Joel Bray
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA
| | - Anne E. Pusey
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708, USA
| | - Ian C. Gilby
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287-2402, USA
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18
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Bond ML, Lee DE, Farine DR, Ozgul A, König B. Sociability increases survival of adult female giraffes. Proc Biol Sci 2021; 288:20202770. [PMID: 33563118 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.2770] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Studies increasingly show that social connectedness plays a key role in determining survival, in addition to natural and anthropogenic environmental factors. Few studies, however, integrated social, non-social and demographic data to elucidate what components of an animal's socio-ecological environment are most important to their survival. Female giraffes (Giraffa camelopardalis) form structured societies with highly dynamic group membership but stable long-term associations. We examined the relative contributions of sociability (relationship strength, gregariousness and betweenness), together with those of the natural (food sources and vegetation types) and anthropogenic environment (distance from human settlements), to adult female giraffe survival. We tested predictions about the influence of sociability and natural and human factors at two social levels: the individual and the social community. Survival was primarily driven by individual- rather than community-level social factors. Gregariousness (the number of other females each individual was observed with on average) was most important in explaining variation in female adult survival, more than other social traits and any natural or anthropogenic environmental factors. For adult female giraffes, grouping with more other females, even as group membership frequently changes, is correlated with better survival, and this sociability appears to be more important than several attributes of their non-social environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- M L Bond
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Wild Nature Institute, Concord, NH, USA
| | - D E Lee
- Wild Nature Institute, Concord, NH, USA.,Department of Biology, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
| | - D R Farine
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.,Department of Collective Behavior, Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior, Konstanz, Germany.,Center for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany
| | - A Ozgul
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
| | - B König
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
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19
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Garnier A, Besnard A, Crampe JP, Estèbe J, Aulagnier S, Gonzalez G. Intrinsic factors, release conditions and presence of conspecifics affect post‐release dispersal after translocation of Iberian ibex. Anim Conserv 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/acv.12669] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- A. Garnier
- Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour (CEFS) INRAE Université de Toulouse Castanet‐Tolosan France
- Pyrenees National Park Tarbes France
| | - A. Besnard
- Centre of Functional and Evolutionary Ecology (CEFE)(UMR 5175) CNRS PSL Research University EPHE University of Montpellier SupAgro IRD INRAE Montpellier France
| | | | - J. Estèbe
- Regional Natural Park of the Ariège Pyrenees Ferme d’Icart Montels France
| | - S. Aulagnier
- Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour (CEFS) INRAE Université de Toulouse Castanet‐Tolosan France
| | - G. Gonzalez
- Wildlife Ecology and Behaviour (CEFS) INRAE Université de Toulouse Castanet‐Tolosan France
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20
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Canteloup C, Puga-Gonzalez I, Sueur C, van de Waal E. The consistency of individual centrality across time and networks in wild vervet monkeys. Am J Primatol 2021; 83:e23232. [PMID: 33464611 DOI: 10.1002/ajp.23232] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2020] [Revised: 12/14/2020] [Accepted: 12/29/2020] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
Abstract
Previous primate social network studies largely limited their focus to grooming and/or aggression networks, particularly among adult females. In addition, the consistency of individuals' network centrality across time and/or different networks has received little attention, despite this being critical for a global understanding of dynamic social structure. Here, we analyzed the grooming, aggression, and play social networks of a group of 26-28 wild vervet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), including adults and juveniles, over two periods of 6 months. We collected data on grooming, play, and aggression using focal animal sampling with instantaneous recording and ad libitum sampling. We examined whether individuals' network centralities were consistent over the two periods and across networks, as well as the effect of age, sex, and dominance rank on three individual centrality metrics in each network and within each study period. We found that individuals were quite consistent in their network position from 1 year to the next despite changes in group composition. However, their network centralities were not correlated across networks, except for Strength and weighted Eigenvector centrality between grooming and aggression networks. We also found that in the aggression network, high-rankers showed the highest centrality in most network metrics (e.g., Degree, Strength, and Eigenvector centrality) and compared to males, females were most central in 2017 but not in 2018. In the grooming network, high-ranking females had the highest Eigenvector centrality, whereas in the play network, juvenile males had the highest Eigenvector centrality. Our findings corroborate previous findings on vervet monkeys. In addition, they show that individuals' network centralities may vary among networks and over time; thus highlighting the effect of sociodemographics and behaviors' functions on the group level dynamics of social behavior.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charlotte Canteloup
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.,UMR 7206 Eco-Anthropologie, CNRS, MNHN, Université de Paris, Paris, France
| | - Ivan Puga-Gonzalez
- Institute for Global Development and Planning, University of Agder, Kristiansand, Norway.,Center for Modeling Social Systems at NORCE, Kristiansand, Norway
| | - Cédric Sueur
- Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, IPHC, UMR 7178, Strasbourg, France.,Institut Universitaire de France, Paris, France
| | - Erica van de Waal
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, University of Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland.,Inkawu Vervet Project, Mawana Game Reserve, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
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21
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Siracusa ER, Boutin S, Dantzer B, Lane JE, Coltman DW, McAdam AG. Familiar Neighbors, but Not Relatives, Enhance Fitness in a Territorial Mammal. Curr Biol 2021; 31:438-445.e3. [DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2020.10.072] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/18/2020] [Revised: 10/01/2020] [Accepted: 10/23/2020] [Indexed: 01/10/2023]
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22
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Campos FA, Villavicencio F, Archie EA, Colchero F, Alberts SC. Social bonds, social status and survival in wild baboons: a tale of two sexes. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 375:20190621. [PMID: 32951552 PMCID: PMC7540948 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2019.0621] [Citation(s) in RCA: 31] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/10/2020] [Indexed: 01/25/2023] Open
Abstract
People who are more socially integrated or have higher socio-economic status live longer. Recent studies in non-human primates show striking convergences with this human pattern: female primates with more social partners, stronger social bonds or higher dominance rank all lead longer lives. However, it remains unclear whether social environments also predict survival in male non-human primates, as it does in men. This gap persists because, in most primates, males disperse among social groups, resulting in many males who disappear with unknown fate and have unknown dates of birth. We present a Bayesian model to estimate the effects of time-varying social covariates on age-specific adult mortality in both sexes of wild baboons. We compare how the survival trajectories of both sexes are linked to social bonds and social status over the life. We find that, parallel to females, male baboons who are more strongly bonded to females have longer lifespans. However, males with higher dominance rank for their age appear to have shorter lifespans. This finding brings new understanding to the adaptive significance of heterosexual social bonds for male baboons: in addition to protecting the male's offspring from infanticide, these bonds may have direct benefits to males themselves. This article is part of the theme issue 'Evolution of the primate ageing process'.
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Affiliation(s)
- Fernando A. Campos
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Francisco Villavicencio
- Department of International Health, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
- Interdisciplinary Center on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Elizabeth A. Archie
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Fernando Colchero
- Interdisciplinary Center on Population Dynamics, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
- Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark
| | - Susan C. Alberts
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, National Museums of Kenya, Nairobi, Kenya
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23
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Webber QM, Schneider DC, Vander Wal E. Is less more? A commentary on the practice of ‘metric hacking’ in animal social network analysis. Anim Behav 2020. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2020.08.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
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24
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Menz CS, Carter AJ, Best EC, Freeman NJ, Dwyer RG, Blomberg SP, Goldizen AW. Higher sociability leads to lower reproductive success in female kangaroos. ROYAL SOCIETY OPEN SCIENCE 2020; 7:200950. [PMID: 32968533 PMCID: PMC7481692 DOI: 10.1098/rsos.200950] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/02/2020] [Accepted: 08/05/2020] [Indexed: 06/01/2023]
Abstract
In social mammals, social integration is generally assumed to improve females' reproductive success. Most species demonstrating this relationship exhibit complex forms of social bonds and interactions. However, female eastern grey kangaroos (Macropus giganteus) exhibit differentiated social relationships, yet do not appear to cooperate directly. It is unclear what the fitness consequences of such sociability could be in species that do not exhibit obvious forms of cooperation. Using 4 years of life history, spatial and social data from a wild population of approximately 200 individually recognizable female eastern grey kangaroos, we tested whether higher levels of sociability are associated with greater reproductive success. Contrary to expectations, we found that the size of a female's social network, her numbers of preferential associations with other females and her group sizes all negatively influenced her reproductive success. These factors influenced the survival of dependent young that had left the pouch rather than those that were still in the pouch. We also show that primiparous females (first-time breeders) were less likely to have surviving young. Our findings suggest that social bonds are not always beneficial for reproductive success in group-living species, and that female kangaroos may experience trade-offs between successfully rearing young and maintaining affiliative relationships.
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Affiliation(s)
- C. S. Menz
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - A. J. Carter
- Department of Anthropology, University College London, London, UK
| | - E. C. Best
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - N. J. Freeman
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - R. G. Dwyer
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
- Global Change Ecology Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Queensland 4556, Australia
| | - S. P. Blomberg
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
| | - A. W. Goldizen
- School of Biological Sciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
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25
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Galezo AA, Foroughirad V, Krzyszczyk E, Frère CH, Mann J. Juvenile social dynamics reflect adult reproductive strategies in bottlenose dolphins. Behav Ecol 2020. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/araa068] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Abstract
The juvenile period is a challenging life-history stage, especially in species with a high degree of fission–fusion dynamics, such as bottlenose dolphins, where maternal protection is virtually absent. Here, we examined how juvenile male and female bottlenose dolphins navigate this vulnerable period. Specifically, we examined their grouping patterns, activity budget, network dynamics, and social associations in the absence of adults. We found that juveniles live in highly dynamic groups, with group composition changing every 10 min on average. Groups were generally segregated by sex, and segregation was driven by same-sex preference rather than opposite-sex avoidance. Juveniles formed strong associations with select individuals, especially kin and same-sex partners, and both sexes formed cliques with their preferred partners. Sex-specific strategies in the juvenile period reflected adult reproductive strategies, in which the exploration of potential social partners may be more important for males (which form long-term alliances in adulthood) than females (which preferentially associate with kin in adulthood). Females spent more time alone and were more focused on foraging than males, but still formed close same-sex associations, especially with kin. Males cast a wider social net than females, with strong same-sex associations and many male associates. Males engaged in more affiliative behavior than females. These results are consistent with the social bonds and skills hypothesis and suggest that delayed sexual maturity in species with relational social complexity may allow individuals to assess potential associates and explore a complex social landscape without the risks associated with sexual maturity (e.g., adult reproductive competition; inbreeding).
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Affiliation(s)
- Allison A Galezo
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
| | - Vivienne Foroughirad
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
- Division of Marine Science and Conservation, DukeUniversity Marine Laboratory, Beaufort, NC, USA
| | - Ewa Krzyszczyk
- Center for Marine Resource Studies, The School for Field Studies, Beverly, MA, USA
| | - Céline H Frère
- Global Change Ecology Research Group, University of the Sunshine Coast, Sippy Downs, QLD, Australia
| | - Janet Mann
- Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
- Department of Psychology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, USA
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26
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Bonar M, Lewis KP, Webber QMR, Dobbin M, Laforge MP, Vander Wal E. Geometry of the ideal free distribution: individual behavioural variation and annual reproductive success in aggregations of a social ungulate. Ecol Lett 2020; 23:1360-1369. [PMID: 32602664 DOI: 10.1111/ele.13563] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/29/2019] [Revised: 12/10/2019] [Accepted: 05/07/2020] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Variation in social environment can mitigate risks and rewards associated with occupying a particular patch. We aim to integrate Ideal Free Distribution (IFD) and Geometry of the Selfish Herd (GSH) to address an apparent conflict in their predictions of equal mean fitness between patches (IFD) and declining fitness benefits within a patch (GSH). We tested these hypotheses in a socio-spatial context using individual caribou that were aggregated or disaggregated during calving and varied in their annual reproductive success (ARS). We then tested individual consistency of these spatial tactics. We reveal that two socio-spatial tactics accorded similar mean ARS (IFD); however, ARS for aggregated individuals declined near the periphery (GSH). Individuals near the aggregation periphery exhibited flexibility, whereas others were consistent. The integration of classical theories through a contemporary lens of consistent individual differences provides evidence for an integrated GSH and IFD strategy that may represent an evolutionary stable state.
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Affiliation(s)
- Maegwin Bonar
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, USA
| | - Keith P Lewis
- Department of Fisheries and Oceans, St. John's, NL, USA
| | - Quinn M R Webber
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Interdisciplinary Program, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, USA
| | - Maria Dobbin
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, USA
| | - Michel P Laforge
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, USA
| | - Eric Vander Wal
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, USA.,Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Interdisciplinary Program, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, USA
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27
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Snyder-Mackler N, Burger JR, Gaydosh L, Belsky DW, Noppert GA, Campos FA, Bartolomucci A, Yang YC, Aiello AE, O'Rand A, Harris KM, Shively CA, Alberts SC, Tung J. Social determinants of health and survival in humans and other animals. Science 2020; 368:eaax9553. [PMID: 32439765 PMCID: PMC7398600 DOI: 10.1126/science.aax9553] [Citation(s) in RCA: 286] [Impact Index Per Article: 71.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/07/2019] [Accepted: 03/19/2020] [Indexed: 12/11/2022]
Abstract
The social environment, both in early life and adulthood, is one of the strongest predictors of morbidity and mortality risk in humans. Evidence from long-term studies of other social mammals indicates that this relationship is similar across many species. In addition, experimental studies show that social interactions can causally alter animal physiology, disease risk, and life span itself. These findings highlight the importance of the social environment to health and mortality as well as Darwinian fitness-outcomes of interest to social scientists and biologists alike. They thus emphasize the utility of cross-species analysis for understanding the predictors of, and mechanisms underlying, social gradients in health.
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Affiliation(s)
- Noah Snyder-Mackler
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Psychology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA
- Center for Evolution and Medicine, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA
| | - Joseph Robert Burger
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Institute of the Environment, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Lauren Gaydosh
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Center for Medicine, Health, and Society, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, USA
| | - Daniel W Belsky
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
- Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, New York, NY, USA
| | - Grace A Noppert
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Center for the Study of Aging and Human Development, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Fernando A Campos
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Anthropology, University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, USA
| | - Alessandro Bartolomucci
- Department of Integrative Biology and Physiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA
| | - Yang Claire Yang
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Lineberger Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Allison E Aiello
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Angela O'Rand
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
| | - Kathleen Mullan Harris
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Carolina Population Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
- Department of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, USA
| | - Carol A Shively
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Comparative Medicine Section, Department of Pathology, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA
| | - Susan C Alberts
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Jenny Tung
- Social and Biological Determinants of Health Working Group, NC, USA.
- Department of Evolutionary Anthropology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Population Research Institute, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Center for Population Health and Aging, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC, USA
- Institute of Primate Research, Nairobi, Kenya
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28
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Brandl HB, Farine DR, Funghi C, Schuett W, Griffith SC. Early-life social environment predicts social network position in wild zebra finches. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 286:20182579. [PMID: 30963840 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Abstract
Early-life experience can fundamentally shape individual life-history trajectories. Previous research has suggested that exposure to stress during development causes differences in social behaviour later in life. In captivity, juvenile zebra finches exposed to elevated corticosterone levels were less socially choosy and more central in their social networks when compared to untreated siblings. These differences extended to other aspects of social life, with 'stress-exposed' juveniles switching social learning strategies and juvenile males less faithfully learning their father's song. However, while this body of research suggests that the impacts of early-life stress could be profound, it remains unknown whether such effects are strong enough to be expressed under natural conditions. Here, we collected data on social associations of zebra finches in the Australian desert after experimentally manipulating brood sizes. Juveniles from enlarged broods experienced heightened sibling competition, and we predicted that they would express similar patterns of social associations to stress-treated birds in the captive study by having more, but less differentiated, relationships. We show striking support for the suggested consequences of developmental stress on social network positions, with our data from the wild replicating the same results in 9 out of 10 predictions previously tested in captivity. Chicks raised in enlarged broods foraged with greater numbers of conspecifics but were less 'choosy' and more central in the social network. Our results confirm that the natural range of variation in early-life experience can be sufficient to predict individuals' social trajectories and support theory highlighting the potential importance of developmental conditions on behaviour.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanja B Brandl
- 1 Institute of Zoology, Universität Hamburg , Hamburg , Germany.,2 Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University , Sydney , Australia.,3 School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
| | - Damien R Farine
- 4 Department of Collective Behaviour, Max Planck Institute for Ornithology , Konstanz , Germany.,5 Chair of Biodiversity and Collective Behaviour, Department of Biology, University of Konstanz , Konstanz , Germany.,6 Centre for the Advanced Study of Collective Behaviour, University of Konstanz , Konstanz , Germany.,7 Department of Zoology, Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, University of Oxford , Oxford , UK
| | - Caterina Funghi
- 1 Institute of Zoology, Universität Hamburg , Hamburg , Germany.,2 Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University , Sydney , Australia.,3 School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
| | - Wiebke Schuett
- 1 Institute of Zoology, Universität Hamburg , Hamburg , Germany.,3 School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia.,8 School of Life Sciences, University of Sussex , Brighton , UK
| | - Simon C Griffith
- 2 Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University , Sydney , Australia.,3 School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, University of New South Wales , Sydney, New South Wales , Australia
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29
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Individual and seasonal variation in contact rate, connectivity and centrality in red fox (Vulpes vulpes) social groups. Sci Rep 2019; 9:20095. [PMID: 31882945 PMCID: PMC6934461 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-019-56713-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2019] [Accepted: 12/16/2019] [Indexed: 01/01/2023] Open
Abstract
Examining temporal variation in social connectivity and relating this to individual behaviour can help understand the role of individuals within social groups. Although red foxes are solitary foragers, they form social groups at higher population densities. To investigate the effects of season, sex and status on social connectivity in red fox social groups, we set camera traps for four consecutive seasons to record contact rates and social network metrics at food patches in seven fox territories. Higher food availability was associated with higher contact rates. Individual contact rates peaked in different seasons depending on sex and social status. Dominant foxes held central network positions in all seasons but there was no consistent pattern in social connections within territories, suggesting a greater influence of features such as group size and composition on network structure than seasonal behaviour. Increased extraterritorial movements by males during winter contributed to a significant reduction in local network connectivity. Female network strength did not vary with season, suggesting that females play an important role in maintaining year-round group cohesion. These data advance our understanding of canid social systems, the benefits of group-living in solitary foraging carnivores, and the impacts of management interventions for an ecologically important species.
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30
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Pinho GM, Ortiz-Ross X, Reese AN, Blumstein DT. Correlates of maternal glucocorticoid levels in a socially flexible rodent. Horm Behav 2019; 116:104577. [PMID: 31442430 DOI: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2019.104577] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2019] [Revised: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 08/19/2019] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Abstract
While it is generally accepted that social isolation has detrimental effects on social species, little is known about the importance of social interactions in less social species-particularly for wild reproductive females. We studied socially-flexible yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) and asked whether features of the social environment are associated with maternal fecal glucocorticoid metabolite (FGM) concentrations. Since changes in maternal baseline glucocorticoids may have positive or negative consequences for offspring fitness, we were also interested in estimating their relationship with measures of reproductive success. We fitted generalized linear mixed effects models to a dataset including maternal FGM measurements, social network metrics, maternal/alloparental care, and pup FGM and survival. Agonistic interactions were positively associated with maternal FGM levels, while mothers that engaged in relatively more affiliative interactions had reduced FGM levels when living in environments with low predator pressure. Pups associated with mothers exhibiting high FGM levels had low annual survival rates, received less maternal/alloparental care and had higher FGM levels. Interestingly, offspring from mothers with high FGM levels were more likely to survive the summer when born in small litters. In sum, social interactions likely influence and are influenced by glucocorticoid levels of facultatively social females. Potential benefits of social bonds may be context-specific, and agonistic interactions may be tightly correlated with fitness. Female marmots exhibiting high FGM levels had overall low reproductive success, which is predicted by the cort-fitness hypothesis. However, under adverse conditions, offspring summer survival can be maximized if pups are born in small litters.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gabriela M Pinho
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA.
| | | | - Andrew N Reese
- Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA.
| | - Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA; Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Box 519, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA.
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31
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Affiliation(s)
- Eric R. Lucas
- Department of Vector Biology Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine Liverpool UK
| | - Laurent Keller
- Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore University of Lausanne Lausanne Switzerland
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32
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Dorning J, Harris S. Understanding the intricacy of canid social systems: Structure and temporal stability of red fox (Vulpes vulpes) groups. PLoS One 2019; 14:e0220792. [PMID: 31509536 PMCID: PMC6738593 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0220792] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2018] [Accepted: 07/23/2019] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
Red foxes have a highly flexible social system. Despite numerous studies worldwide, our understanding of the pattern and stability of fox social relationships remains limited. We applied social network analysis to camera trap data collected at high-quality foraging patches to examine the social structure of a population of urban red foxes. Foxes encountered a conspecific on 13% of patch visits, and had significant preferred and avoided companionships in all seasons. They also associated in communities that matched territorial space use, confirming that territories can be analysed separately to increase power without excluding too many social partners. Foxes maintained stable, long-term relationships with other territory residents, but the average longevity of relationships varied seasonally, suggesting that social connectivity, particularly between foxes from different social groups, is influenced by their annual life cycle. The probability of re-association after a given time lag was highest in spring and summer, during cub birth and rearing, and lowest in the winter mating season, when mean relationship duration was shorter. 33% of fox relationships lasted for four consecutive seasons and were probably between territory residents. 14% lasted for around 20 days and were probably between residents and visitors from adjacent territories. The majority (53%) lasted less than one day, particularly during dispersal and mating, and were probably between foxes from non-adjacent social groups. Social structure varied between groups; in one group the death of the dominant male caused significant social disruption for two seasons. This is the first application of social network analysis to multiple red fox social groups. However, our analyses were based on interactions at high quality food patches; social connections may differ when foxes are resting, travelling and foraging elsewhere in their territory. Our results will inform management practices, particularly for disease spread and population control.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jo Dorning
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, United Kingdom
- * E-mail:
| | - Stephen Harris
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Bristol, England, United Kingdom
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33
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Deng K, Cui JG. Vocal networks remain stable after a disturbance in Emei music frogs. Ecol Evol 2019; 9:9290-9297. [PMID: 31463021 PMCID: PMC6706236 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.5473] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2018] [Revised: 03/26/2019] [Accepted: 07/03/2019] [Indexed: 11/27/2022] Open
Abstract
Social network analysis has been widely used to investigate the dynamics of social interactions and the evolution of social complexity across a range of taxa. Anuran species are highly dependent on vocal communication in mate choice; however, these species have rarely been the subject of social network analysis. The present study used social network analysis to investigate whether vocal network structures are consistent in Emei music frog (Babina daunchina) after the introduction of a simulated exotic rival of varying competitiveness into the social group. We broadcasted six categories of artificial calls (either highly sexually attractive calls produced from inside male nests or calls of low sexual attractiveness produced outside nests with three, five or seven notes, respectively) to simulate an intruder with different levels of competitiveness. We then constructed vocal networks for two time periods (before and after the disturbance) and quantified three network metrics (strength, closeness, and betweenness) that measure different aspects of individual-level position. We used the mean values of these network metrics to evaluate group-level changes in network structure. We found that the mean strength, mean closeness and mean betweenness were consistent between two time periods in all ponds, despite the fact that the positions of some individuals had changed markedly after disturbance. In addition, there was no significant interaction effect between period and numbers of notes on the three network metrics. These finding suggest that the structure of vocal networks in Emei music frogs remain stable at the group level after a conspecific disturbance, regardless of the intruder's competitiveness.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ke Deng
- Chengdu Institute of BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesChengduChina
| | - Jian-Guo Cui
- Chengdu Institute of BiologyChinese Academy of SciencesChengduChina
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34
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35
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Kulahci IG, Quinn JL. Dynamic Relationships between Information Transmission and Social Connections. Trends Ecol Evol 2019; 34:545-554. [PMID: 30902359 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2019.02.007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/08/2018] [Revised: 01/21/2019] [Accepted: 02/13/2019] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Understanding the drivers of sociality is a major goal in biology. Individual differences in social connections determine the overall group structure and have consequences for a variety of processes, including if and when individuals acquire information from conspecifics. Effects in the opposite direction, where information acquisition and transmission have consequences for social connections, are also likely to be widespread. However, these effects are typically overlooked. We propose that individuals who successfully learn about their environment become valuable social partners and become highly connected, leading to feedback-based dynamic relationships between social connections and information transmission. These dynamics have the potential to change our understanding of social evolution, including how selection acts on behavior and how sociality influences population-level processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ipek G Kulahci
- School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, Distillery Fields, North Mall Campus, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
| | - John L Quinn
- School of Biological, Earth, and Environmental Sciences, Distillery Fields, North Mall Campus, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland; Environmental Research Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland
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36
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Webber QM, Vander Wal E. Trends and perspectives on the use of animal social network analysis in behavioural ecology: a bibliometric approach. Anim Behav 2019. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2019.01.010] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
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37
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Blumstein DT, Williams DM, Lim AN, Kroeger S, Martin JGA. Strong social relationships are associated with decreased longevity in a facultatively social mammal. Proc Biol Sci 2019; 285:rspb.2017.1934. [PMID: 29343594 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1934] [Citation(s) in RCA: 33] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/28/2017] [Accepted: 12/04/2017] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
Humans in strong social relationships are more likely to live longer because social relationships may buffer stressors and thus have protective effects. However, a shortcoming of human studies is that they often rely on self-reporting of these relationships. By contrast, observational studies of non-human animals permit detailed analyses of the specific nature of social relationships. Thus, discoveries that some social animals live longer and healthier lives if they are involved in social grooming, forage together or have more affiliative associates emphasizes the potential importance of social relationships on health and longevity. Previous studies have focused on the impact of social metrics on longevity in obligately social species. However, if sociality indeed has a key role in longevity, we might expect that affiliative relationships should also influence longevity in less social species. We focused on socially flexible yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventer) and asked whether female longevity covaries with the specific nature of social relationships. We quantified social relationships with social network statistics that were based on affiliative interactions, and then estimated the correlation between longevity and sociality using bivariate models. We found a significant negative phenotypic correlation between affiliative social relationship strength and longevity; marmots with greater degree, closeness and those with a greater negative average shortest path length died at younger ages. We conclude that sociality plays an important role in longevity, but how it does so may depend on whether a species is obligately or facultatively social.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel T Blumstein
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA .,The Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, Box 519, Crested Butte, CO 81224, USA
| | - Dana M Williams
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Alexandra N Lim
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, 621 Young Drive South, Los Angeles, CA 90095-1606, USA
| | - Svenja Kroeger
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK
| | - Julien G A Martin
- Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen AB24 2TZ, UK
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38
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O’Brien PP, Webber QMR, Vander Wal E. Consistent individual differences and population plasticity in network-derived sociality: An experimental manipulation of density in a gregarious ungulate. PLoS One 2018; 13:e0193425. [PMID: 29494640 PMCID: PMC5832262 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193425] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/13/2017] [Accepted: 02/09/2018] [Indexed: 11/20/2022] Open
Abstract
In many taxa, individual social traits appear to be consistent across time and context, thus meeting the criteria for animal personality. How these differences are maintained in response to changes in population density is unknown, particularly in large mammals, such as ungulates. Using a behavioral reaction norm (BRN) framework, we examined how among- and within-individual variation in social connectedness, measured using social network analyses, change as a function of population density. We studied a captive herd of elk (Cervus canadensis) separated into a group of male elk and a group of female elk. Males and females were exposed to three different density treatments and we recorded social associations between individuals with proximity-detecting radio-collars fitted to elk. We constructed social networks using dyadic association data and calculated three social network metrics reflective of social connectedness: eigenvector centrality, graph strength, and degree. Elk exhibited consistent individual differences in social connectedness across densities; however, they showed little individual variation in their response to changes in density, i.e., individuals oftentimes responded plastically, but in the same manner to changes in density. Female elk had highest connectedness at an intermediate density. In contrast, male elk increased connectedness with increasing density. Whereas this may suggest that the benefits of social connectedness outweigh the costs of increased competition at higher density for males, females appear to exhibit a threshold in social benefits (e.g. predator detection and forage information). Our study illustrates the importance of viewing social connectedness as a density-dependent trait, particularly in the context of plasticity. Moreover, we highlight the need to revisit our understanding of density dependence as a population-level phenomenon by accounting for consistent individual differences not only in social connectedness, but likely in other ecological processes (e.g., predator-prey dynamics, mate choice, disease transfer).
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Affiliation(s)
- Paul P. O’Brien
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Quinn M. R. Webber
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Interdisciplinary Program, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
| | - Eric Vander Wal
- Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Interdisciplinary Program, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada
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39
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Kulahci IG, Ghazanfar AA, Rubenstein DI. Consistent individual variation across interaction networks indicates social personalities in lemurs. Anim Behav 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.11.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 02/02/2023]
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40
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Thompson NA, Cords M. Stronger social bonds do not always predict greater longevity in a gregarious primate. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:1604-1614. [PMID: 29435236 PMCID: PMC5792528 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.3781] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/21/2017] [Revised: 12/02/2017] [Accepted: 12/11/2017] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
In group-living species, individuals often have preferred affiliative social partners, with whom ties or bonds can confer advantages that correspond with greater fitness. For example, in adult female baboons and juvenile horses, individuals with stronger or more social ties experience greater survival. We used detailed behavioral and life history records to explore the relationship between tie quality and survival in a gregarious monkey (Cercopithecus mitis stuhlmanni), while controlling for dominance rank, group size, and life history strategy. We used Cox proportional hazards regressions to model the cumulative (multi-year) and current (single-year) relationships of social ties and the hazard of mortality in 83 wild adult females of known age, observed 2-8 years each (437 subject-years) in eight social groups. The strength of bonds with close partners was associated with increased mortality risk under certain conditions: Females that had strong bonds with close partners that were inconsistent over multiple years had a higher risk of mortality than females adopting any other social strategy. Within a given year, females had a higher risk of death if they were strongly bonded with partners that changed from the previous year versus with partners that remained consistent. Dominance rank, number of adult female groupmates, and age at first reproduction did not predict the risk of death. This study demonstrates that costs and benefits of strong social bonds can be context-dependent, relating to the consistency of social partners over time.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nicole A. Thompson
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental BiologyColumbia UniversityNew YorkNYUSA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary PrimatologyNew YorkNYUSA
| | - Marina Cords
- Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Environmental BiologyColumbia UniversityNew YorkNYUSA
- New York Consortium in Evolutionary PrimatologyNew YorkNYUSA
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41
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Nadal J, Ponz C, Margalida A. The effects of scaling on age, sex and size relationships in Red-legged Partridges. Sci Rep 2018; 8:2174. [PMID: 29391508 PMCID: PMC5794768 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-20576-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/08/2017] [Accepted: 01/22/2018] [Indexed: 02/05/2023] Open
Abstract
Wild birds differ in size according to their age and sex, adult birds being larger than juveniles. In the galliforms, males are larger than females, in contrast to some groups, such as the raptors, in which the females are larger. Size generally influences the rank hierarchy within a group of birds, although the age, sex, temperament and behaviour of an individual may override its size related rank order. The scaled size of birds according to age and sex affects their physiology and behaviour. Precise details of body-size differences by age and sex are poorly known in most partridge species. We measured 13,814 wild partridges in a homogenous population over 14 years of study to evaluate size differences within a uniform habitat and population management regime. We show that wild Red-legged Partridges have scaled mass, and body- and wing-lengths consistent with age/sex classes. Power functions between mass and body-length (as a proxy for walking efficiency), and between mass and wing-length (for flight efficiency) differ between juvenile females and males, and adult females and males. We discuss these findings and their physiological, behavioural and ecological implications.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jesús Nadal
- Department of Animal Science, Division of Wildlife, Faculty of Life Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.
| | - Carolina Ponz
- Department of Animal Science, Division of Wildlife, Faculty of Life Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain
| | - Antoni Margalida
- Department of Animal Science, Division of Wildlife, Faculty of Life Sciences and Engineering, University of Lleida, Lleida, Spain.,Division of Conservation Biology, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland
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42
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Kerman K, Sieving KE, St. Mary C, Avery ML. Social conformity affects experimental measurement of boldness in male but not female monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus). BEHAVIOUR 2018. [DOI: 10.1163/1568539x-00003519] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The standard approach for characterizing boldness rarely considers the influence of social environment on the expression of boldness in group-living animals. We studied a wild-caught, captive population of monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) to investigate the impact of conspecific presence on boldness — a personality trait in monk parakeets — in a controlled environment. We quantified seven boldness metrics across three types of behavioural assay: novel object, emergence, and predator exposure tests in the presence of a companion pair of flock mates. Because of the high degree of sociality in this species, we hypothesized that the presence of companion birds would facilitate the focal individuals’ behavioural responses (i.e., increase the average boldness level). We found that behavioural response in a risky foraging context was inversely correlated between solitary and social condition in males, but not in females. Our results have implications for characterizing sex-specific differences of risk-taking behaviour in social animals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kaan Kerman
- aDepartment of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Kathryn E. Sieving
- aDepartment of Wildlife Ecology and Conservation, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Colette St. Mary
- bDepartment of Biology, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
| | - Michael L. Avery
- cUSDA Wildlife Services, National Wildlife Research Center, Florida Field Station, Gainesville, FL 32641, USA
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43
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Webber QMR, Vander Wal E. An evolutionary framework outlining the integration of individual social and spatial ecology. J Anim Ecol 2017; 87:113-127. [PMID: 29055050 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12773] [Citation(s) in RCA: 60] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2017] [Accepted: 10/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Behaviour is the interface between an organism and its environment, and behavioural plasticity is important for organisms to cope with environmental change. Social behaviour is particularly important because sociality is a dynamic process, where environmental variation influences group dynamics and social plasticity can mediate resource acquisition. Heterogeneity in the ecological environment can therefore influence the social environment. The combination of the ecological and social environments may be interpreted collectively as the "socioecological environment," which could explain variation in fitness. Our objective was to outline a framework through which individual social and spatial phenotypes can be integrated and interpreted as phenotypes that covary as a function of changes in the socioecological environment. We propose the socioecological environment is composed of individual behavioural traits, including sociality and habitat selection, both of which are repeatable, potentially heritable and may reflect animal personality traits. We also highlight how ecological and social niche theory can be applied to the socioecological environment framework, where individuals occupy different socioecological niches. Individual sociality and habitat selection are also density-dependent, and theory predicts that density-dependent traits should affect reproduction, survival, and therefore fitness and population dynamics. We then illustrate the proximate links between sociality, habitat selection and fitness as well as the ultimate, and possibly adaptive, consequences associated with changes in population density. The ecological, evolutionary and applied implications of our proposed socioecological environment framework are broad and changes in density could influence individual fitness and population dynamics. For instance, human-induced environmental changes can influence population density, which can affect the distribution of social and spatial phenotypes within a population. In summary, we outline a conceptual framework that incorporates individual social and spatial behavioural traits with fitness and we highlight a range of ecological and evolutionary processes that are likely associated with the socioecological environment.
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Affiliation(s)
- Quinn M R Webber
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Interdisciplinary Program, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
| | - Eric Vander Wal
- Cognitive and Behavioural Ecology Interdisciplinary Program, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada.,Department of Biology, Memorial University of Newfoundland, St. John's, NL, Canada
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44
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Leroux SJ, Wal EV, Wiersma YF, Charron L, Ebel JD, Ellis NM, Hart C, Kissler E, Saunders PW, Moudrá L, Tanner AL, Yalcin S. Stoichiometric distribution models: ecological stoichiometry at the landscape extent. Ecol Lett 2017; 20:1495-1506. [DOI: 10.1111/ele.12859] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/31/2017] [Accepted: 09/07/2017] [Indexed: 01/20/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Shawn J. Leroux
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Eric Vander Wal
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Yolanda F. Wiersma
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Louis Charron
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Jonathan D. Ebel
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Nichola M. Ellis
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Christopher Hart
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Emilie Kissler
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Paul W. Saunders
- Department of Environment and Conservation, Wildlife Division; Government of Newfoundland and Labrador; Corner Brook NL A2H 7S1 Canada
| | - Lucie Moudrá
- Department of Applied Geoinformatics and Spatial Planning; Faculty of Environmental Sciences; Czech University of Life Sciences; Prague Czech Republic
| | - Amy L. Tanner
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
| | - Semra Yalcin
- Department of Biology; Memorial University of Newfoundland; St. John's NL A1B 3X9 Canada
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45
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Manlove KR, Cassirer EF, Plowright RK, Cross PC, Hudson PJ. Contact and contagion: Probability of transmission given contact varies with demographic state in bighorn sheep. J Anim Ecol 2017; 86:908-920. [PMID: 28317104 DOI: 10.1111/1365-2656.12664] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/06/2016] [Accepted: 02/08/2017] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Understanding both contact and probability of transmission given contact are key to managing wildlife disease. However, wildlife disease research tends to focus on contact heterogeneity, in part because the probability of transmission given contact is notoriously difficult to measure. Here, we present a first step towards empirically investigating the probability of transmission given contact in free-ranging wildlife. We used measured contact networks to test whether bighorn sheep demographic states vary systematically in infectiousness or susceptibility to Mycoplasma ovipneumoniae, an agent responsible for bighorn sheep pneumonia. We built covariates using contact network metrics, demographic information and infection status, and used logistic regression to relate those covariates to lamb survival. The covariate set contained degree, a classic network metric describing node centrality, but also included covariates breaking the network metrics into subsets that differentiated between contacts with yearlings, ewes with lambs, and ewes without lambs, and animals with and without active infections. Yearlings, ewes with lambs, and ewes without lambs showed similar group membership patterns, but direct interactions involving touch occurred at a rate two orders of magnitude higher between lambs and reproductive ewes than between any classes of adults or yearlings, and one order of magnitude higher than direct interactions between multiple lambs. Although yearlings and non-reproductive bighorn ewes regularly carried M. ovipneumoniae, our models suggest that a contact with an infected reproductive ewe had approximately five times the odds of producing a lamb mortality event of an identical contact with an infected dry ewe or yearling. Consequently, management actions targeting infected animals might lead to unnecessary removal of young animals that carry pathogens but rarely transmit. This analysis demonstrates a simple logistic regression approach for testing a priori hypotheses about variation in the odds of transmission given contact for free-ranging hosts, and may be broadly applicable for investigations in wildlife disease ecology.
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Affiliation(s)
- Kezia R Manlove
- Department of Biology, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University, 208 Mueller Labs, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
| | - E Frances Cassirer
- Idaho Department of Fish and Game, 3316 16th St., Lewiston, ID, 83501, USA
| | - Raina K Plowright
- Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Montana State University, PO Box 173520, Bozeman, MT, 59717, USA
| | - Paul C Cross
- U.S. Geological Survey, Northern Rocky Mountain Research Center, 2327 University Way Ste. 2, Bozeman, MT, 59715, USA
| | - Peter J Hudson
- Department of Biology, Center for Infectious Disease Dynamics, Pennsylvania State University, 208 Mueller Labs, University Park, PA, 16802, USA
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Menz CS, Goldizen AW, Blomberg SP, Freeman NJ, Best EC. Understanding repeatability and plasticity in multiple dimensions of the sociability of wild female kangaroos. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Koen EL, Tosa MI, Nielsen CK, Schauber EM. Does landscape connectivity shape local and global social network structure in white-tailed deer? PLoS One 2017; 12:e0173570. [PMID: 28306748 PMCID: PMC5357016 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0173570] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2016] [Accepted: 02/23/2017] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
Intraspecific social behavior can be influenced by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. While much research has focused on how characteristics of individuals influence their roles in social networks, we were interested in the role that landscape structure plays in animal sociality at both individual (local) and population (global) levels. We used female white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Illinois, USA, to investigate the potential effect of landscape on social network structure by weighting the edges of seasonal social networks with association rate (based on proximity inferred from GPS collar data). At the local level, we found that sociality among female deer in neighboring social groups (n = 36) was mainly explained by their home range overlap, with two exceptions: 1) during fawning in an area of mixed forest and grassland, deer whose home ranges had low forest connectivity were more social than expected; and 2) during the rut in an area of intensive agriculture, deer inhabiting home ranges with high amount and connectedness of agriculture were more social than expected. At the global scale, we found that deer populations (n = 7) in areas with highly connected forest-agriculture edge, a high proportion of agriculture, and a low proportion of forest tended to have higher weighted network closeness, although low sample size precluded statistical significance. This result implies that infectious disease could spread faster in deer populations inhabiting such landscapes. Our work advances the general understanding of animal social networks, demonstrating how landscape features can underlie differences in social behavior both within and among wildlife social networks.
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Affiliation(s)
- Erin L. Koen
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Marie I. Tosa
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America
- Department of Zoology and Center for Ecology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Clayton K. Nielsen
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America
- Department of Forestry, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America
| | - Eric M. Schauber
- Cooperative Wildlife Research Laboratory, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America
- Department of Zoology and Center for Ecology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, Illinois, United States of America
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Festa-Bianchet M, Douhard M, Gaillard JM, Pelletier F. Successes and challenges of long-term field studies of marked ungulates. J Mammal 2017. [DOI: 10.1093/jmammal/gyw227] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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50
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Williams TD. Animal Athletes. Integr Comp Biol 2016. [DOI: 10.1093/icb/icw108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
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