Ecology and social behavior of the social vole Microtus socialis: A generalized review

The present review is a compilation of the published data on the ecology and social behavior of the social vole. Field studies provide evidence that these voles live in family groups consisting of 1 adult male, 1 or 2 breeding females, and their offspring (1 or 2 litters). The social vole is capable of year-round reproduction, but in arid regions, the voles demonstrate seasonality in breeding. The mating system of this species may be defined as behavioral monogamy. A typical feature of the space use system is territoriality characterized by a locus-dependent dominance in relationships between neighboring breeding pairs as well as family groups. The family group social organization may be defined as consistent relationships without a dominant hierarchy. Social voles are cooperative in defending their territories, constructing burrows, digging underground tunnels, maintaining nests, and raising young. Cooperation appears to enhance the survival of family groups of this species under the extreme climatic conditions of Central Asia.

How scientists become experts-or don't: Social organization of research and engagement in scientific advice in a toxicology laboratory

Certain fields of research are deeply shaped by their proximity with policy-makers and administrations. The so-called 'regulatory sciences' and their corresponding expert communities emerge from this intermediary space between science and policy. Social studies of expertise and scientific experts show, however, that modes of engagement with policy-making vary greatly from one scientist to another. Two scientists that are part of the same research group or laboratory may engage the policy realm differently. How then does the social organization of research influence scientists' participation in scientific advice and the production of regulatory sciences? The paper looks at toxicology, a field in which knowledge production is centrally motivated by risk assessment, but one that has also seen the emergence of different knowledge-making motives, including advancement of fundamental knowledge and frontier research. A toxicology laboratory may thus harbor a diversity of moral economies of scientific advice. The paper argues that scientists' engagements with policy, through scientific advice and regulatory risk assessment, create organizational tensions and force changes to the standard, team-based social organization of research work.

Group singing is globally dominant and associated with social context

Music is an interactive technology associated with religious and communal activities and was suggested to have evolved as a participatory activity supporting social bonding. In post-industrial societies, however, music's communal role was eclipsed by its relatively passive consumption by audiences disconnected from performers. It was suggested that as societies became larger and more differentiated, music became less participatory and more focused on solo singing. Here, we consider the prevalence of group singing and its relationship to social organization through the analysis of two global song corpora: 5776 coded audio recordings from 1024 societies, and 4709 coded ethnographic texts from 60 societies. In both corpora, we find that group singing is more common than solo singing, and that it is more likely in some social contexts (e.g. religious rituals, dance) than in others (e.g. healing, infant care). In contrast, relationships between group singing and social structure (community size or social differentiation) were not consistent within or between corpora. While we cannot exclude the possibility of sampling bias leading to systematic under-sampling of solo singing, our results from two large global corpora of different data types provide support for the interactive nature of music and its complex relationship with sociality.

The impact of small groups on pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection in polyandrous populations

Sexual selection is a key evolutionary force but varies widely between populations. Two key factors that influence sexual selection are the extent to which females copulate with multiple males (polyandry) and variation in the social environment. Increasing research demonstrates populations are structured by complex socio-sexual networks, and the structure of these networks can influence sexual selection by shaping the relationship between male precopulatory mating success and the intensity of postcopulatory competition. However, comparatively less attention has been dedicated to the influence of group structure on sexual selection and how differences in the size of groups may impact on the relative force of pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection in polyandrous populations. The presence of groups (i.e., group structure) and the size of groups varies widely in nature and forms an implicit part of much experimental sexual selection research under laboratory conditions. Here I use simulations of mating competition within populations that vary in the size of groups they contain, to show that variation in group size, and in particular small groups, can influence sexual selection. Specifically, I show that null expectations for the operation of pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection is governed by the size of groups within populations because smaller group sizes constrain the structure of sexual networks leading to reinforcing episodes of pre- and postcopulatory sexual selection. Given broad variation in group structure in nature and the tendency for experimental sexual selection research to study replicate small groups, these effects have implications for our understanding of the operation of sexual selection in polyandrous populations.

The social role of song in wild zebra finches

Male songbirds sing to establish territories and to attract mates.^1,2 However, increasing reports of singing in non-reproductive contexts³ and by females^4,5 show that song use is more diverse than previously considered. Therefore, alternative functions of song, such as social cohesion³ and synchronization of breeding, by and large, were overlooked even in such well-studied species such as the zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata). In these social songbirds, only the males sing, and pairs breed synchronously in loose colonies,^6,7 following aseasonal rain events in their arid habitat.^8,9 As males are not territorial, and pairs form long-term monogamous bonds early in life, conventional theory predicts that zebra finches should not sing much at all; however, they do and their song is the focus of hundreds of lab-based studies.^{10,11,12,13,14,15,16,17,18,19,20,21,22} We hypothesize that zebra finch song functions to maintain social cohesion and to synchronize breeding. Here, we test this idea using data from 5 years of field studies, including observational transects, focal and year-round audio recordings, and a large-scale playback experiment. We show that zebra finches frequently sing while in groups, that breeding status influences song output at the nest and at aggregations, that they sing year round, and that they predominantly sing when with their partner, suggesting that the song remains important after pair formation. Our playback reveals that song actively features in social aggregations as it attracts conspecifics. Together, these results demonstrate that birdsong has important functions beyond territoriality and mate choice, illustrating its importance in coordination and cohesion of social units within larger societies.

The evolution of marsupial social organization

It is generally believed that marsupials are more primitive than placentals mammals and mainly solitary living, representing the ancestral form of social organization of all mammals. However, field studies have observed pair and group-living in marsupial species, but no comparative study about their social evolution was ever done. Here, we describe the results of primary literature research on marsupial social organization which indicates that most species can live in pairs or groups and many show intra-specific variation in social organization. Using Bayesian phylogenetic mixed-effects models with a weak phylogenetic signal of 0.18, we found that solitary living was the most likely ancestral form (35% posterior probability), but had high uncertainty, and the combined probability of a partly sociable marsupial ancestor (65%) should not be overlooked. For Australian marsupials, group-living species were less likely to be found in tropical rainforest, and species with a variable social organization were associated with low and unpredictable precipitation representing deserts. Our results suggest that modern marsupials are more sociable than previously believed and that there is no strong support that their ancestral state was strictly solitary living, such that the assumption of a solitary ancestral state of all mammals may also need reconsideration.

Unbalanced selection: the challenge of maintaining a social polymorphism when a supergene is selfish

Supergenes often have multiple phenotypic effects, including unexpected detrimental ones, because recombination suppression maintains associations among co-adapted alleles but also allows the accumulation of recessive deleterious mutations and selfish genetic elements. Yet, supergenes often persist over long evolutionary periods. How are such polymorphisms maintained in the face of selection, drive and drift? We present a population genetic model that investigates the conditions necessary for a stable polymorphic equilibrium when one of the supergene haplotypes is a selfish genetic element. The model fits the characteristics of the Alpine silver ant, Formica selysi, in which a large supergene underlies colony social organization, and one haplotype distorts Mendelian transmission by killing progeny that did not inherit it. The model shows that such maternal-effect killing strongly limits the maintenance of social polymorphism. Under random mating, transmission ratio distortion prevents rare single-queen colonies from invading populations of multiple-queen colonies, regardless of the fitness of each genotype. A stable polymorphic equilibrium can, however, be reached when high rates of assortative mating are combined with large fitness differences among supergene genotypes. The model reveals that the persistence of the social polymorphism is non-trivial and expected to occur only under restrictive conditions that deserve further empirical investigation. This article is part of the theme issue 'Genomic architecture of supergenes: causes and evolutionary consequences'.

Iterative evolution of supergene-based social polymorphism in ants

Species commonly exhibit alternative morphs, with individual fate being determined during development by either genetic factors, environmental cues or a combination thereof. Ants offer an interesting case study because many species are polymorphic in their social structure. Some colonies contain one queen while others contain many queens. This variation in queen number is generally associated with a suite of phenotypic and life-history traits, including mode of colony founding, queen lifespan, queen-worker dimorphism and colony size. The basis of this social polymorphism has been studied in five ant lineages, and remarkably social morph seems to be determined by a supergene in all cases. These 'social supergenes' tend to be large, having formed through serial inversions, and to comprise hundreds of linked genes. They have persisted over long evolutionary timescales, in multiple lineages following speciation events, and have spread between closely related species via introgression. Their evolutionary dynamics are unusually complex, combining recessive lethality, spatially variable selection, selfish genetic elements and non-random mating. Here, we synthesize the five cases of supergene-based social polymorphism in ants, highlighting interesting commonalities, idiosyncrasies and implications for the evolution of polymorphisms in general. This article is part of the theme issue 'Genomic architecture of supergenes: causes and evolutionary consequences'.

Genomic analysis reveals geography rather than culture as the predominant factor shaping genetic variation in northern Kenyan human populations

OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to characterize the genetic relationships within and among four neighboring ethnolinguistic groups in northern Kenya in light of cultural relationships to understand the extent to which geography and culture shape patterns of genetic variation.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We collected DNA and demographic information pertaining to aspects of social identity and heritage from 572 individuals across the Turkana, Samburu, Waso Borana, and Rendille of northern Kenya. We sampled individuals across a total of nine clans from these four groups and, additionally, three territorial sections within the Turkana and successfully genotyped 376 individuals.

RESULTS

Here we report that geography predominately shapes genetic variation within and among human groups in northern Kenya. We observed a clinal pattern of genetic variation that mirrors the overall geographic distribution of the individuals we sampled. We also found relatively higher rates of intermarriage between the Rendille and Samburu and evidence of gene flow between them that reflect these higher rates of intermarriage. Among the Turkana, we observed strong recent genetic substructuring based on territorial section affiliation. Within ethnolinguistic groups, we found that Y chromosome haplotypes do not consistently cluster by natal clan affiliation. Finally, we found that sampled populations that are geographically closer have lower genetic differentiation, and that cultural similarity does not predict genetic similarity as a whole across these northern Kenyan populations.

DISCUSSION

Overall, the results from this study highlight the importance of geography, even on a local geographic scale, in shaping observed patterns of genetic variation in human populations.

Male zebrafish (Danio rerio) do not preferentially associate with familiar over unfamiliar conspecifics

Members of several shoaling species have been shown to prefer to associate with familiar individuals, enhancing the benefits of aggregation. The authors used a series of social preference tasks in the laboratory to evaluate whether prior familiarity with potential partners influences preference of shoaling partner in male zebrafish (Danio rerio), a social species found in shallow, slow-moving waters. The authors found that though male zebrafish exhibited a strong preference for shoaling with a male conspecific as opposed to remaining alone, they exhibited no preference for familiar over unfamiliar conspecifics. This suggests that the benefits of familiarity for shoaling behaviour may not be as important for male zebrafish as has been shown in other social fish species.

Warm and arid regions of the world are hotspots of superorganism complexity

Biologists have long been fascinated by the processes that give rise to phenotypic complexity of organisms, yet whether there exist geographical hotspots of phenotypic complexity remains poorly explored. Phenotypic complexity can be readily observed in ant colonies, which are superorganisms with morphologically differentiated queen and worker castes analogous to the germline and soma of multicellular organisms. Several ant species have evolved 'worker polymorphism', where workers in a single colony show quantifiable differences in size and head-to-body scaling. Here, we use 256 754 occurrence points from 8990 ant species to investigate the geography of worker polymorphism. We show that arid regions of the world are the hotspots of superorganism complexity. Tropical savannahs and deserts, which are typically species-poor relative to tropical or even temperate forests, harbour the highest densities of polymorphic ants. We discuss the possible adaptive advantages that worker polymorphism provides in arid environments. Our work may provide a window into the environmental conditions that promote the emergence of highly complex phenotypes.

Research on the Natural Hazard Emergency Cooperation Behavior between Governments and Social Organizations Based on the Hybrid Mechanism of Incentive and Linkage in China

Social organizations have become an important component of the emergency management system by virtue of their heterogeneous resource advantages. It is of great significance to explore the interaction between the local government and social organizations and to clarify the key factors affecting the participation of social organizations in natural hazard emergency responses. With the aim of exploring the relationship between the local government and social organizations, based on evolutionary game theory, the emergency incentive game model and the emergency linkage game model of natural hazard emergency responses were constructed. The evolutionary trajectories of the emergency incentive game system and the emergency linkage game system were described by numerical simulation. Meanwhile, the influence mechanism of government decision parameters on the strategy selection of both game subjects was analyzed. The results show that both governmental incentive strategy and linkage strategy can significantly improve the enthusiasm of social organizations for participating in natural hazard emergency responses. Moreover, they could encourage social organizations to choose a positive participation strategy. Nevertheless, over-reliance on incentives reduces the probability of the local government choosing a positive emergency strategy. In addition, we found that, when both game subjects tend to choose a positive strategy, the strategy selection of the local government drives that of social organizations.

Social pressure drives "conversational rules" in great apes

In the last decade, two hypotheses, one on the evolution of animal vocal communication in general and the other on the origins of human language, have gained ground. The first hypothesis argues that the complexity of communication co-evolved with the complexity of sociality. Species forming larger groups with complex social networks have more elaborate vocal repertoires. The second hypothesis posits that the core of communication is represented not only by what can be expressed by an isolated caller, but also by the way that vocal interactions are structured, language being above all a social act. Primitive forms of conversational rules based on a vocal turn-taking principle are thought to exist in primates. To support and bring together these hypotheses, more comparative studies of socially diverse species at different levels of the primate phylogeny are needed. However, the majority of available studies focus on monkeys, primates that are distant from the human lineage. Great apes represent excellent candidates for such comparative studies because of their phylogenetic proximity to humans and their varied social lives. We propose that studying vocal turn-taking in apes could address several major gaps regarding the social relevance of vocal turn-taking and the evolutionary trajectory of this behaviour among anthropoids. Indeed, how the social structure of a species may influence the vocal interaction patterns observed among group members remains an open question. We gathered data from the literature as well as original unpublished data (where absent in the literature) on four great ape species: chimpanzees Pan troglodytes, bonobos Pan paniscus, western lowland gorillas Gorilla gorilla gorilla and Bornean orang-utans Pongo pygmaeus. We found no clear-cut relationship between classical social complexity metrics (e.g. number of group members, interaction rates) and vocal complexity parameters (e.g. repertoire size, call rates). Nevertheless, the nature of the society (i.e. group composition, diversity and valence of social bonds) and the type of vocal interaction patterns (isolated calling, call overlap, turn-taking-based vocal exchanges) do appear to be related. Isolated calling is the main vocal pattern found in the species with the smallest social networks (orang-utan), while the other species show vocal interactions that are structured according to temporal rules. A high proportion of overlapping vocalisations is found in the most competitive species (chimpanzee), while vocal turn-taking predominates in more tolerant bonobos and gorillas. Also, preferentially interacting individuals and call types used to interact are not randomly distributed. Vocal overlap ('chorusing') and vocal exchange ('conversing') appear as possible social strategies used to advertise/strengthen social bonds. Our analyses highlight that: (i) vocal turn-taking is also observed in non-human great apes, revealing universal rules for conversing that may be deeply rooted in the primate lineage; (ii) vocal interaction patterns match the species' social lifestyle; (iii) although limited to four species here, adopting a targeted comparative approach could help to identify the multiple and subtle factors underlying social and vocal complexity. We believe that vocal interaction patterns form the basis of a promising field of investigation that may ultimately improve our understanding of the socially driven evolution of communication.

Ecological Stoichiometry of Bumblebee Castes, Sexes, and Age Groups

Ecological stoichiometry is important for revealing how the composition of chemical elements of organisms is influenced by their physiological functions and ecology. In this study, we investigated the elemental body composition of queens, workers, and males of the bumblebee Bombus terrestris, an important pollinator throughout Eurasia, North America, and northern Africa. Our results showed that body elemental content differs among B. terrestris castes. Young queens and workers had higher body nitrogen concentration than ovipositing queens and males, while castes did not differ significantly in their body carbon concentration. Furthermore, the carbon-to-nitrogen ratio was higher in ovipositing queens and males. We suggest that high body nitrogen concentration and low carbon-to-nitrogen ratio in young queens and workers may be related to their greater amount of flight muscles and flight activities than to their lower stress levels. To disentangle possible effects of stress in the agricultural landscape, further studies are needed to compare the elemental content of bumblebee bodies between natural habitats and areas of high-intensity agriculture.

Sett Use, Density and Breeding Phenology of Badgers in Mediterranean Agro-Sylvo-Pastoral Systems

Simple Summary

Understanding carnivores social structure variation is pivotal for properly addressing conservation challenges and solutions. The European badgers is a social carnivore for which most of the available information regarding how this species is socially organized derives from central west populations. This article describes the group composition, den use patterns and breeding phenology of a Mediterranean population of badgers. We showed that badger live in low density, in relatively small groups, composed by 2–4 adult animals and ca. 2 cubs, born in winter. These patterns, representing a variation of what was described for other populations, show that badgers take advantage of the landscape context, where human-related resources and mild environmental conditions allow badger to reach higher densities than in many southern populations, and to reproduce earlier than their northern counterparts.

Abstract

Carnivores social organization varies widely, from strongly social to solitary predators. European badgers are facultative social carnivores that also shows a geographical variation in social structure. These patterns derive mainly from central/west European regions, with an under-representation of Mediterranean populations that face different conservation challenges, especially regarding group composition, sett use patterns and breeding phenology. We addressed these traits topics for a population inhabiting a Portuguese agro-silvo-pastoral system. Based on monthly monitoring of 34 setts and continuous camera-trapping surveys of 12, we showed that setts surrounded by diversified vegetation and located in sandy sites are more used, a pattern probably linked to food availability and ease of sett excavation and maintenance, respectively. Badgers followed a general pattern regarding group size (2–4 adults), but showed an intermediate population density (0.49–0.73 badgers/km²), with values higher than those estimated for other Mediterranean environments, but lower than for central-western populations. This, together with the breeding (November/January) and cub emergence (1.8 cubs/sett; March/April) periods, indicates an ecological adaptation to the landscape context, where human-related resources and mild environmental conditions allow badger to reach higher densities than in many southern populations, and to reproduce earlier than their northern counterparts.

Public financing versus private billing in a public hospital under management of a Social Health Organization

INTRODUCTION

to assess the efficiency of management by a Social Health Organization (Organização Social de Saúde - OSS) compared with the private sector; to verify if there are savings for the State Health Secretariat (SES) in management contracts for financing the production of a public hospital versus its production values billed by private methods; and to establish if the amounts billed by the Unified Health System (SUS) table would finance the same procedures.

METHODS

we compiled and tabulated all procedures performed and the materials and drugs dispensed in the Euryclides Jesus Zerbini Transplant Hospital (HTEJZ), managed by the OSS Associação Paulista Para o Desenvolvimento da Medicina (SPDM), in September, October, and November 2018, according to the Brasíndice® table for drugs, the Simpro® table for materials, the CBHPM® table for medical fees, and tables SIGTAP SUS and SIA SUS. We then compared the average values obtained in the private billing with the costing amount reimbursed by the State Health Secretariat and the billing calculated in the SIA-SUS.

RESULTS

the average SUS revenue was R$ 2,774,086.91; the monthly reimbursement by the SES was R$ 13,055,700.00; and the average private revenue was R$ 25,084,440.31.

CONCLUSIONS

the management by the OSS SPDM in the Euryclides de Jesus Zerbini Transplant Hospital was more efficient in the financing / production ratio than it would be to a private hospital. The economy of public funds was significant. The current SUS table reimbursement values would not meet the need for funding for an overly complex hospital.

Reinventing Privatization: A Political Economic Analysis of the Social Health Organizations in Brazil

The Brazilian state apparatus was reformed throughout the 1990s, influenced by New Public Management (NPM). NPM was embodied in the health care sector by the creation of Social Health Organizations (Organizações Sociais de Saúde or OSS), private non-profit entities to provide welfare services. We performed a systematic review of the literature outlining the origins and role of OSS in Brazil. Our selected articles (peer-reviewed) cover the origins/performance of OSS and their services provision between 1998 and 2018, in English or Portuguese. Databases used were Lilacs, Bireme, Medline, Pubmed, and SciELO. We identified 4,732 articles applying a pre-defined set of descriptors, from which we selected 49 for analysis. The main findings reveal that NPM is the central theme of most articles about OSS in Brazil (n = 26). There is evidence corroborating our hypothesis that transferring management of public health care services to private non-profit organizations is a softer version of privatization as, although financing is kept public, the rationale and ethos of OSS services institutionally and operationally mimic the private sector. The practical consequence is that attainment of health care in Brazil ends up being neither fully commodified (based on ability to pay) nor fulfilled as a citizen's right following its national constitution.

Variable social organization is ubiquitous in Artiodactyla and probably evolved from pair-living ancestors

Previous studies to understand the evolution of interspecific variation in mammalian social organization (SO; composition of social units) produced inconsistent results, possibly by ignoring intraspecific variation. Here we present systematic data on SO in artiodactyl populations, coding SO as solitary, pair-living, group-living, sex-specific or variable (different kinds of SOs in the same population). We found that 62% of 245 populations and 83% of species (83/100) exhibited variable SO. Using Bayesian phylogenetic mixed-effects models, we simultaneously tested whether research effort, habitat, sexual dimorphism, breeding seasonality or body size predicted the likelihood of different SOs and inferred the ancestral SO. Body size and sexual dimorphism were strongly associated with different SOs. Contingent on the small body size (737 g) and putative sexual monomorphism of the earliest fossil artiodactyl, the ancestral SO was most likely to be pair-living (probability = 0.76, 95% CI = 0-1), followed by variable (p = 0.19, 95% CI = 0-0.99). However, at body size values typical of extant species, variable SO becomes the dominant form (p = 0.74, 95% CI = 0.18-1.00). Distinguishing different kinds of 'variable' highlights transitions from SOs involving pair-living to SOs involving solitary and/or group-living with increasing body size and dimorphism. Our results support the assumption that ancestral artiodactyl was pair-living and highlight the ubiquity of intraspecific variation in SO.

Examining the Social Organization Practices of Cybercriminals in the Netherlands Online and Offline

This study focuses on the organization practices of networks of cybercriminals engaged in serious financial offenses, through a qualitative analysis of the Best and Luckenbill's sociological framework. The study utilized data collected regarding 18 separate criminals investigations from the Netherlands. The results demonstrate that the participants within these networks operated at various stages of deviant sophistication. Surprisingly, the majority of networks exhibit organizational sophistication based on their division of labor and extended duration over time. In fact, most of this sample could be classified as "teams" or "formal organizations." Furthermore, in contrast with prior studies, no loners were present and only a few networks could be classified as "colleagues" or "peers."

A framework for conceptualizing dimensions of social organization in mammals

Mammalian societies represent many different types of social systems. While some aspects of social systems have been extensively studied, there is little consensus on how to conceptualize social organization across species. Here, we present a framework describing eight dimensions of social organization to capture its diversity across mammalian societies. The framework uses simple information that is clearly separated from the three other aspects of social systems: social structure, care system, and mating system. By applying our framework across 208 species of all mammalian taxa, we find a rich multidimensional landscape of social organization. Correlation analysis reveals that the dimensions have relatively high independence, suggesting that social systems are able to evolve different aspects of social behavior without being tied to particular traits. Applying a clustering algorithm allows us to identify the relative importance of key dimensions on patterns of social organization. Finally, mapping mating system onto these clusters shows that social organization represents a distinct aspect of social systems. In the future, this framework will aid reporting on important aspects of natural history in species and facilitate comparative analyses, which ultimately will provide the ability to generate new insights into the primary drivers of social patterns and evolution of sociality.

The Mechanism of Social Organization Participation in Natural Hazards Emergency Relief: A Case Study Based on the Social Network Analysis

The uncertainty and complexity of natural hazards put forward new requirements for emergency management systems. In order to deal with natural hazards effectively, it is important to build a cooperative network between government organizations and social organizations. The social network analysis method is adopted, the April 2013 Ya’an China earthquake is taken as a case study, the institutionalized emergency organization network before the disaster and the actual response organization network after the disaster are analyzed, and centrality, between centrality, closeness centrality and core-periphery are calculated. Through qualitative and quantitative research, the functions of social organization in the process of natural hazards emergency relief are revealed, the role orientation of social organization in the emergency management network is analyzed, and the influence factors of the social organization participation in the natural hazards relief is pointed out. Research results will help to promote the cooperation between social organization and government, and improve the efficiency of natural hazards emergency relief.

The hierarchy of evidence in advanced wound care: The social organization of limitations in knowledge

In this article, we discuss how we used institutional ethnography (Institutional ethnography as practice, Rowman & Littlefield, Lanham, MD and 2006) to map out powerful ruling relations that organize nurses' wound care work. In recent years, the growing number of people living with wounds that heal slowly or not at all has presented substantial challenges for those managing the demands on Canada's publicly insured health-care system. In efforts to address this burden, Canadian health-care administrators and policy-makers rely on scientific evidence about how wounds heal and what treatments are most effective. Advanced wound care exemplifies the growing authorization of particular forms of evidence that change the ways in which nurses come to know about and conduct their work. The focus of this paper's nursing inquiry is a critique of registered nurses' wound work as it arises within the established uptake of scientific evidence.

Social Organization Participation, Government Governance and the Equalization of Basic Public Services: Evidence from China

This paper uses the methods of System Generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM), mediation effect and linkage effect to investigate the relationship among social organization participation, government governance and the equalization of basic public services from 2007 to 2017 in China. The empirical results show that the participation of social organizations and improvement in the government governance can promote the equalization of basic public services. The government has a greater capacity to drive the equalization of basic public services, but the density of social organizations can serve as a mediator in the equalization of basic public services. The government governance and social organization density have a strong linkage effect, but the link with social organization quality is weak. Furthermore, a linkage effect is evident in medical and health care, public education, environmental protection, and public culture but not in public science and social welfare.

Trade-off between fertility and predation risk drives a geometric sequence in the pattern of group sizes in baboons

Group-living offers both benefits (protection against predators, access to resources) and costs (increased ecological competition, the impact of group size on fertility). Here, we use cluster analysis to detect natural patternings in a comprehensive sample of baboon groups, and identify a geometric sequence with peaks at approximately 20, 40, 80 and 160. We suggest (i) that these form a set of demographic oscillators that set habitat-specific limits to group size and (ii) that the oscillator arises from a trade-off between female fertility and predation risk.

When Health Care is Displaced by State Interests: Building Dialogue Through Shared Findings

Health sociologists interested in how macro state influences affect micro health care practices have much to gain from meta-ethnography research. In this article, we bring together insights from two separate empirical studies on state health care services involving HIV/AIDS as a way to speak to larger issues about the organization and production of medical expertise and governance in health care systems. We use Noblit and Hare's meta-ethnography approach to bring these studies into conversation and identify six shared "organizers" of health care encounters. The organizers illustrate how state health interests operate across institutional contexts and impact the work of providers in seemingly unrelated health care settings. On the basis of this synthesis, we conclude that state interests both structure and create conflict in health care settings. We believe this perspective offers the potential to advance the goals of health sociology and the field of qualitative health research in general.

The effect of dispersal on rates of cumulative cultural evolution

The ability to develop cultural adaptations to local environments is critical to the biological success of humans. Although overall population size and connectedness are thought to play an important role in increasing the rate of cumulative cultural evolution, the independent effect of dispersal rules on rates of cultural evolution has not been examined. Here, a computational model is used to explore the effect of dispersal on the rate of cultural evolution in traits transmitted patrilineally (from father to son), matrilineally (mother to daughter) and bilineally (through both sexes). Two dispersal conditions are modelled: patrilocality (where females disperse and males stay) and bilocality (where either sex may disperse). The results suggest that when only females disperse, the capacity for cumulative cultural evolution in traits shared only among males is severely constrained. This occurs even though overall rates of dispersal and the number of cultural models available to males and females are identical in both dispersal conditions. The constraints on the evolution of patrilineally inherited traits could be considered to represent a process of 'cultural inbreeding', analogous to genetic inbreeding.

Asymmetric assortative mating and queen polyandry are linked to a supergene controlling ant social organization

Nonrecombining genomic variants underlie spectacular social polymorphisms, from bird mating systems to ant social organization. Because these "social supergenes" affect multiple phenotypic traits linked to survival and reproduction, explaining their persistence remains a substantial challenge. Here, we investigate how large nonrecombining genomic variants relate to colony social organization, mating system and dispersal in the Alpine silver ant, Formica selysi. The species has colonies headed by a single queen (monogynous) and colonies headed by multiple queens (polygynous). We confirmed that a supergene with alternate haplotypes-Sm and Sp-underlies this polymorphism in social structure: Females from mature monogynous colonies had the Sm/Sm genotype, while those from polygynous colonies were Sm/Sp and Sp/Sp. Queens heading monogynous colonies were exclusively mated with Sm males. In contrast, queens heading polygynous colonies were mated with Sp males and Sm males. Sm males, which are only produced by monogynous colonies, accounted for 22.9% of the matings with queens from mature polygynous colonies. This asymmetry between social forms in the degree of assortative mating generates unidirectional male-mediated gene flow from the monogynous to the polygynous social form. Biased gene flow was confirmed by a significantly higher number of private alleles in the polygynous social form. Moreover, heterozygous queens were three times as likely as homozygous queens to be multiply mated. This study reveals that the supergene variants jointly affect social organization and multiple components of the mating system that alter the transmission of the variants and thus influence the dynamics of the system.

Long-term group membership and dynamics in a wild western lowland gorilla population (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) inferred using non-invasive genetics

The social organization of a group-living animal is defined by a balance between group dynamic events such as group formation, group dissolution, and dispersal events and group stability in membership and over time. Understanding these processes, which are relevant for questions ranging from disease transmission patterns to the evolution of polygyny, requires long-term monitoring of multiple social units over time. Because all great ape species are long-lived and elusive, the number of studies on these key aspects of social organization are limited, especially for western lowland gorillas (Gorilla gorilla gorilla). In this study, we used non-invasive genetic samples collected within an approximately 100 km² area of Loango National Park, Gabon to reconstruct group compositions and changes in composition over more than a decade. We identified 98 gorillas and 11 mixed sex groups sampled during 2014-2017. Using published data from 85 individuals and 12 groups surveyed between 2005 and 2009 at the same locality, we tracked groups and individuals back in time. The identification of 11 silverbacks via parentage analyses and the genetic tracking of 39 individuals across studies allowed us to infer six group formations, five group dissolutions, and 40 dispersal events within 12 years. We also observed four groups persisting across the sampling periods with a maximum inferred existence of nearly 17 years and exhibiting variation in membership stability. Our results highlight the variation in composition and stability among groups of western lowland gorillas and illustrate the power of non-invasive genetic sampling for long-term monitoring.

Fraternal Polyandry and Clannish Spatial Organization in a Flightless Island Bird

Polyandry has been studied in many species, especially birds [1]. Exclusively fraternal polyandry (several full or half-brothers with one unrelated female) is only known in human societies [2, 3], in which it is an important mechanism for limiting reproductive output [3] in association with scarce environmental resources [2]. However, the social organization of the Kagu Rhynochetos jubatus, a bird species endemic to New Caledonia, has the characteristics of this mating system. Kagu are cooperative breeders and evolved in the absence of predators [4, 5]. Breeding birds and their helpers contributes to the care and defense of the chick [6]. Kagu populations occur in both poor and rich habitats [7] and differ substantially in food supply and associated reproduction rates [8]. This enabled us to verify whether fraternal polyandry increased reproductive output in low-density situations but limited reproduction in high-density populations. Our 15-year study revealed that, regardless of resource availability, Kagu were organized in facultative fraternal polyandrous families grouped in clans. Within a clan, all breeding females were unrelated, whereas all males were related. There was no extra-clan paternity. An average family size of four to five adults was optimal for breeding success. Males that have long-established families in their own territory regularly visited their parents. We conclude that fraternal polyandry in Kagu increases reproductive output under poor environmental conditions but limits population growth when the population is near carrying capacity because the clannish spatial organization prevents new families from establishing territories.

Consistency of fish-shoal social network structure under laboratory conditions

We investigated the consistency of association network structure for groups of sticklebacks Gasterosteus aculeatus. Each group was observed twice and we varied the duration between observations and the size of the experimental arena that they were observed in. At the dyad level, we found positive correlations between dyad interaction frequencies across observations. At the group level we found variation in four network metrics between observations, but only in treatments where the duration between observations was short. Specifically, fish formed more and smaller groups in the second observation in this treatment. Fish were also organized into more subunits in the larger arenas. Finally, we saw positive correlations between some group network metrics across observations suggesting relative consistency at the group level. There are several processes that might drive these interaction patterns. Our findings have implications for experimental design and the comparison and integration of findings of experiments from different studies carried out under different conditions.

Intra-specific variation in social organization of Strepsirrhines

Strepsirrhines, that is, lemurs, galagos, and lorises, are considered basal primates, making them important to understand the evolution of primate sociality. Apart from some lemurs, they are nocturnal and solitary living, though the view of their sociality nature has changed with field studies being completed. We conducted a review of the primary literature about the social organization (group composition) of strepsirrhines, with the aim to determine whether intra-specific variation in social organization (IVSO) occurs and to determine how many species are pair-living, group-living, or solitary living. We found data in 83 peer-reviewed studies for 43 of the 132 strepsirrhine species and compared our results using two databases on social systems of mammals published in 2011 and 2013. While it is often assumed that primates show relatively fixed social organizations, we found that 60.5% of species for which data exist have IVSO. We found only 7% of the species to be truly solitary living (with 34.9% additional species to be sometimes solitary living), which is in contrast to the other databases, which had reported 60.9% and 37.7% of species to be solitary. We further explored group compositions by designating "functional groups" (e.g., foraging, breeding, and infant care groups). While functional groups might explain IVSO within a single species, this was not consistent over species with IVSO, such that IVSO was poorly explained by functional groups. Our study supports the view that most strepsirrhines are social (58.1% of species with another 34.9% of species sometimes living in pairs or groups) and show complex and often variable social organizations; reinforcing the assumption that the ancestor of all primates was social and not solitary.

Sex roles and adult sex ratios: insights from mammalian biology and consequences for primate behaviour

Theoretical models and empirical studies in various taxa have identified important links between variation in sex roles and the number of adult males and females (adult sex ratio (ASR)) in a population. In this review, I examine these relationships in non-human primates. Because most existing theoretical models of the evolution of sex roles focus on the evolutionary origins of sex-biased behaviour, they offer only a general scaffold for predicting variation in sex roles among and within species. I argue that studies examining sex role variation at these more specific levels need to take social organization into account to identify meaningful levels for the measurement of ASR and to account for the fact that ASR and sex roles mutually influence each other. Moreover, taxon-specific life-history traits can constrain sex role flexibility and impact the operational sex ratio (OSR) by specifying the minimum length of female time outs from reproduction. Using examples from the primate literature, I highlight practical problems in estimating ASR and OSR. I then argue that interspecific variation in the occurrence of indirect forms of paternal care might indeed be linked to variation in ASR. Some studies also indicate that female aggression and bonding, as well as components of inter-sexual relationships, are sensitive to variation in ASR. Thus, links between primate sex roles and sex ratios merit further study, and such studies could prompt the development of more specific theoretical models that make realistic assumptions about taxon-specific life history and social organization.This article is part of the themed issue 'Adult sex ratios and reproductive decisions: a critical re-examination of sex differences in human and animal societies'.

Alpha male replacements in nonhuman primates: Variability in processes, outcomes, and terminology

Alpha male replacements occur in all primates displaying a dominance hierarchy but the process can be extremely variable. Here, we review the primate literature to document differences in patterns of alpha male replacements, showing that group composition and dispersal patterns account for a large proportion of this variability. We also examine the consequences of alpha male replacements in terms of sexual selection theory, infanticide, and group compositions. Though alpha male replacements are often called takeovers in the literature, this term masks much of the variation that is present in these processes. We argue for more concise terminology and provide a list of terms that we suggest more accurately define these events. Finally, we introduce the papers in this special issue on alpha male replacements in the American Journal of Primatology and discuss areas where data are still lacking.

Dental wear and age grading at Roonka, South Australia

OBJECTIVES

In many hunter-gatherer populations, the teeth are used as a third hand or a tool. Much attention has been paid to wear and its relationship to gendered division of labor, but age is also a significant organizing factor in many societies. In this article, I analyze whether the pattern of wear at Roonka, Australia, reflects the age-graded acquisition of tasks.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

The remains analyzed come from Roonka and date from c6000 BP to 150 BP. In total 126 adults and juveniles were analyzed. Wear gradients were calculated for each tooth relative to wear on the first molar. Data were compared using nonparametric statistics and cluster analysis to assess the degree of patterning within the sample.

RESULTS

Dental wear proceeded rapidly. There is no evidence of sex differences in the pattern of wear. Age differences do occur. While disproportionate anterior wear occurs among juveniles and young adults, by middle adulthood the pattern is less variable and involves the premolars. Old adults have a much flatter pattern of wear.

DISCUSSION

The pattern of wear is consistent with ethnographic observations, which suggest a degree of latitude in the activities of juveniles and young adults. By middle age variability between individuals declines reflecting shared tasks and more intensive use of the teeth. The pattern of wear amongst old adults, however, is much flatter presumably due to changes in occlusion. While dental wear is informative about the organization of labor there is a need to take into account both patterns of activity and occlusion.

How do rivers, geographic distance, and dispersal behavior influence genetic structure in two sympatric New World monkeys?

Dispersal, one of the major factors affecting the gene flow between populations, shapes the spatial distribution of genetic diversity within species. Alouatta macconnelli and Saguinus midas are two Neotropical monkey species that sympatrically inhabit the Guiana shield in northern Amazonia and are likely to differ in their dispersal behavior and vagility. We took advantage of their sympatry to investigate, over a fine geographical scale (∼50 km long), the relationship between spatial genetic structure, on the one hand, and geographical features and the species' dispersal behavior on the other. A total of 84 A. macconnelli individuals from 25 social units and 76 S. midas individuals from 19 social units were genotyped for nine microsatellite markers. Both species displayed high genetic diversity and allelic richness. However, patterns of genetic structure differed between the two species. In A. macconnelli, no genetic substructuring was observed, while in S. midas we detected significant structuring, but this structuring was not correlated with geographical features, such as the location of individuals relative to the river and/or the distance between them. Instead, the geographical distribution of genetic variation observed for each species is predominantly explained by each species' dispersal pattern. We identified bisexual dispersal for both species, but with significant differences, either in the distance or in the rate of dispersal, between species and sexes. Genetic relatedness within social units was higher in S. midas than in A. macconnelli: gene flow between social units seems limited in S. midas, especially for females, while high dispersal characterizes A. macconnelli, where females seem to disperse at lower rate but at a longer distance than males.

Inter-group cooperation in humans and other animals

Social interactions are often characterized by cooperation within groups and conflict or competition between groups. In certain circumstances, however, cooperation can arise between social groups. Here, we examine the circumstances under which inter-group cooperation is expected to emerge and present examples with particular focus on groups in two well-studied but dissimilar taxa: humans and ants. Drivers for the evolution of inter-group cooperation include overarching threats from predators, competitors or adverse conditions, and group-level resource asymmetries. Resources can differ between groups in both quantity and type. Where the difference is in type, inequalities can lead to specialization and division of labour between groups, a phenomenon characteristic of human societies, but rarely seen in other animals. The ability to identify members of one's own group is essential for social coherence; we consider the proximate roles of identity effects in shaping inter-group cooperation and allowing membership of multiple groups. Finally, we identify numerous valuable avenues for future research that will improve our understanding of the processes shaping inter-group cooperation.

Does kinship affect spatial organization in a small and isolated population of a solitary felid: The Eurasian lynx?

Social organization in wild carnivores is mostly determined by patterns of family bonds, which may shape the degree of relatedness among individuals in the population. We studied kinship in a small and isolated population of a solitary carnivore, the Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) to evaluate its effect on spatial distribution of individuals. We investigated the relationship between spatial location and pair-wise kinship among 28 lynx individuals identified in 2004-2011 by telemetry, non-invasive sampling and genotyping with the use of 12 autosomal microsatellites in the Białowieża Primeval Forest, Poland. The average relatedness of the lynx population was relatively low (Lynch and Ritland's R = 0.03). Females were significantly more related to each other than males with other males. The inferred pedigree showed that the population was dominated by only 2 familial groups. We did not find significant correlations between the relatedness and the extent of home range overlap or the straight-line distances between the home ranges' central points. These results suggest that the dynamics of kinship in this solitary felid may not differ from the random mating processes described in social carnivores. Although the chances of random mating could be limited to a few resident males and females, the presence of unrelated floaters may provide a "breeding buffer" that may prevent an increase of relatedness and likely inbreeding in the population. This system is likely to fail in preserving genetic diversity in small, highly isolated populations; therefore, restoring habitat connectivity is crucial to ensure sufficient immigration from neighboring populations.

Does cooperation mean kinship between spatially discrete ant nests?

Eusociality is one of the most complex forms of social organization, characterized by cooperative and reproductive units termed colonies. Altruistic behavior of workers within colonies is explained by inclusive fitness, with indirect fitness benefits accrued by helping kin. Members of a social insect colony are expected to be more closely related to one another than they are to other conspecifics. In many social insects, the colony can extend to multiple socially connected but spatially separate nests (polydomy). Social connections, such as trails between nests, promote cooperation and resource exchange, and we predict that workers from socially connected nests will have higher internest relatedness than those from socially unconnected, and noncooperating, nests. We measure social connections, resource exchange, and internest genetic relatedness in the polydomous wood ant Formica lugubris to test whether (1) socially connected but spatially separate nests cooperate, and (2) high internest relatedness is the underlying driver of this cooperation. Our results show that socially connected nests exhibit movement of workers and resources, which suggests they do cooperate, whereas unconnected nests do not. However, we find no difference in internest genetic relatedness between socially connected and unconnected nest pairs, both show high kinship. Our results suggest that neighboring pairs of connected nests show a social and cooperative distinction, but no genetic distinction. We hypothesize that the loss of a social connection may initiate ecological divergence within colonies. Genetic divergence between neighboring nests may build up only later, as a consequence rather than a cause of colony separation.

Past and present dynamics of sorghum and pearl millet diversity in Mount Kenya region

Crop populations in smallholder farming systems are shaped by the interaction of biological, ecological, and social processes, occurring on different spatiotemporal scales. Understanding these dynamics is fundamental for the conservation of crop genetic resources. In this study, we investigated the processes involved in sorghum and pearl millet diversity dynamics on Mount Kenya. Surveys were conducted in ten sites distributed along two elevation transects and occupied by six ethnolinguistic groups. Varieties of both species grown in each site were inventoried and characterized using SSR markers. Genetic diversity was analyzed using both individual- and population-based approaches. Surveys of seed lot sources allowed characterizing seed-mediated gene flow. Past sorghum diffusion dynamics were explored by comparing Mount Kenya sorghum diversity with that of the African continent. The absence of structure in pearl millet genetic diversity indicated common ancestry and/or important pollen- and seed-mediated gene flow. On the contrary, sorghum varietal and genetic diversity showed geographic patterns, pointing to different ancestry of varieties, limited pollen-mediated gene flow, and geographic patterns in seed-mediated gene flow. Social and ecological processes involved in shaping seed-mediated gene flow are further discussed.

Variation in spatial scale of competing polydomous twig-nesting ants in coffee agroecosystems

Arboreal ants are both highly diverse and ecologically dominant in the tropics. This ecologically important group is particularly useful in ongoing efforts to understand processes that regulate species diversity and coexistence. Our study addresses how polydomy can influence patterns of nest occupation in competing arboreal ants. We examined the spatial structure of nest occupation (nest distance, abundance and density) in three polydomous co-occurring twig-nesting ant species (Pseudomyrmex simplex, P. ejectus and P. PSW-53) by mapping twigs occupied by ants from each species within plots in our study site. We then used two colony structure estimators (intraspecific aggression and cuticular hydrocarbon variation) to determine the relative degree of polydomy for each species. All work was conducted in coffee agroforests in Chiapas, Mexico. Our results revealed that the two species with highest abundance and nest density were also highly polydomous, where both species had either single or multiple non-aggressive colonies occupying nests on a large spatial scale (greater than the hectare level). Our results also indicate that the species with the lowest abundance and density is less polydomous, occupying several overlapping and territorial colonies at the hectare level in which multiple colonies never co-occur on the same host plant. These results contribute evidence that successful coexistence and highly polydomous colony structure may allow ants, through reduced intraspecific aggression, to successfully occupy more nests more densely than ant species that have multiple territorial colonies. Furthermore our study highlights the importance of considering intraspecific interactions when examining community assembly of ants.

Formal and Informal Neighborhood Social Organization: Which Promotes Better Resident Health?

Neighborhood social organization captures how neighborhood residents differently organize to exert social control and enact their vision of their community. Whereas structural aspects of neighborhoods have been found to predict the health of neighborhood residents, we know less about whether neighborhood social characteristics, like social organization, matter for resident health. In their study, authors tested whether two types of social organization-formal and informal-were more predictive of resident self-rated health in a diverse sample of Chicago residents. They used multilevel models with survey weights, ordered dependent variables, and multiple imputation. They found that one measure of formal social organization, organizational participation, was significantly associated with self-rated health even when controlling for other types of social organization and individual participation. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications for macro social work practice to address social determinants of health and improve community health.

Internest food sharing within wood ant colonies: resource redistribution behavior in a complex system

Resource sharing is an important cooperative behavior in many animals. Sharing resources is particularly important in social insect societies, as division of labor often results in most individuals including, importantly, the reproductives, relying on other members of the colony to provide resources. Sharing resources between individuals is therefore fundamental to the success of social insects. Resource sharing is complicated if a colony inhabits several spatially separated nests, a nesting strategy common in many ant species. Resources must be shared not only between individuals in a single nest but also between nests. We investigated the behaviors facilitating resource redistribution between nests in a dispersed-nesting population of wood ant Formica lugubris. We marked ants, in the field, as they transported resources along the trails between nests of a colony, to investigate how the behavior of individual workers relates to colony-level resource exchange. We found that workers from a particular nest "forage" to other nests in the colony, treating them as food sources. Workers treating other nests as food sources means that simple, pre-existing foraging behaviors are used to move resources through a distributed system. It may be that this simple behavioral mechanism facilitates the evolution of this complex life-history strategy.

Seed exchange networks, ethnicity, and sorghum diversity

Recent studies investigating the relationship between crop genetic diversity and human cultural diversity patterns showed that seed exchanges are embedded in farmers' social organization. However, our understanding of the social processes involved remains limited. We investigated how farmers' membership in three major social groups interacts in shaping sorghum seed exchange networks in a cultural contact zone on Mount Kenya. Farmers are members of residence groups at the local scale and of dialect groups clustered within larger ethnolinguistic units at a wider scale. The Chuka and Tharaka, who are allied in the same ethnolinguistic unit, coexist with the Mbeere dialect group in the study area. We assessed farmers' homophily, propensity to exchange seeds with members of the same group, using exponential random graph models. We showed that homophily is significant within both residence and ethnolinguistic groups. At these two levels, homophily is driven by the kinship system, particularly by the combination of patrilocal residence and ethnolinguistic endogamy, because most seeds are exchanged among relatives. Indeed, residential homophily in seed exchanges results from local interactions between women and their in-law family, whereas at a higher level, ethnolinguistic homophily is driven by marriage endogamy. Seed exchanges and marriage ties are interrelated, and both are limited between the Mbeere and the other groups, although frequent between the Chuka and Tharaka. The impact of these social homophily processes on crop diversity is discussed.

Social organization and space use of a wild mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) group

Mandrills (Mandrillus sphinx) are enigmatic Old World primates whose social organization and ecology remain poorly known. Previous studies indicated, for example, that groups are composed of only adult females and their young or that several units composed of one adult male and several females make up larger permanent social units. Here, we present the first data on group composition and male ranging patterns from the only habituated wild mandrill group and examine how home range size and daily path length varied with environmental and demographic factors over a 15-month period. Our study site is located in southern Gabon where we followed the group on a daily basis, collecting data on presence, ranging, behavior, and parasite load of its individual members. Throughout the study, the group was made up of about 120 individuals, including several non-natal and natal adult and sub-adult males. One-male units were never observed. The mandrills traveled an estimated 0.44-6.50 km/day in a home range area of 866.7 ha. Exploratory analyses revealed that precipitation, the number of adult males present, and the richness of protozoan parasites were all positively correlated with daily path length. These results clarify the social system of mandrills and provide first insights into the factors that shape their ranging patterns.

Familiarity affects social network structure and discovery of prey patch locations in foraging stickleback shoals

Numerous factors affect the fine-scale social structure of animal groups, but it is unclear how important such factors are in determining how individuals encounter resources. Familiarity affects shoal choice and structure in many social fishes. Here, we show that familiarity between shoal members of sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) affects both fine-scale social organization and the discovery of resources. Social network analysis revealed that sticklebacks remained closer to familiar than to unfamiliar individuals within the same shoal. Network-based diffusion analysis revealed that there was a strong untransmitted social effect on patch discovery, with individuals tending to discover a task sooner if a familiar individual from their group had previously done so than if an unfamiliar fish had done so. However, in contrast to the effect of familiarity, the frequency with which individuals had previously associated with one another had no effect upon the likelihood of prey patch discovery. This may have been due to the influence of fish on one another's movements; the effect of familiarity on discovery of an empty ‘control’ patch was as strong as for discovery of an actual prey patch. Our results demonstrate that factors affecting fine-scale social interactions can also influence how individuals encounter and exploit resources.

The role of social and ecological processes in structuring animal populations: a case study from automated tracking of wild birds

Both social and ecological factors influence population process and structure, with resultant consequences for phenotypic selection on individuals. Understanding the scale and relative contribution of these two factors is thus a central aim in evolutionary ecology. In this study, we develop a framework using null models to identify the social and spatial patterns that contribute to phenotypic structure in a wild population of songbirds. We used automated technologies to track 1053 individuals that formed 73 737 groups from which we inferred a social network. Our framework identified that both social and spatial drivers contributed to assortment in the network. In particular, groups had a more even sex ratio than expected and exhibited a consistent age structure that suggested local association preferences, such as preferential attachment or avoidance. By contrast, recent immigrants were spatially partitioned from locally born individuals, suggesting differential dispersal strategies by phenotype. Our results highlight how different scales of social decision-making, ranging from post-natal dispersal settlement to fission-fusion dynamics, can interact to drive phenotypic structure in animal populations.

A genomic comparison of two termites with different social complexity

The termites evolved eusociality and complex societies before the ants, but have been studied much less. The recent publication of the first two termite genomes provides a unique comparative opportunity, particularly because the sequenced termites represent opposite ends of the social complexity spectrum. Zootermopsis nevadensis has simple colonies with totipotent workers that can develop into all castes (dispersing reproductives, nest-inheriting replacement reproductives, and soldiers). In contrast, the fungus-growing termite Macrotermes natalensis belongs to the higher termites and has very large and complex societies with morphologically distinct castes that are life-time sterile. Here we compare key characteristics of genomic architecture, focusing on genes involved in communication, immune defenses, mating biology and symbiosis that were likely important in termite social evolution. We discuss these in relation to what is known about these genes in the ants and outline hypothesis for further testing.

Expression of foraging and Gp-9 are associated with social organization in the fire ant Solenopsis invicta

The aim of this study was to investigate levels of expression of two major genes, the odorant binding protein Gp-9 (general protein-9) and foraging, that have been shown to be associated with behavioural polymorphisms in ants. We analysed workers and young nonreproductive queens collected from nests of the monogyne (single reproductive queen per nest) and polygyne (multiple reproductive queens) social forms of Solenopsis invicta. In workers but not young queens, the level of foraging expression was significantly associated with social form and the task performed (ie localization in the nest or foraging area). The level of expression of Gp-9 was also associated with social form and worker localization. In addition there was a higher level of expression of the Gp-9(b) allele compared with the Gp-9(B) allele in the heterozygote workers and the young nonreproductive queens. Finally, in the polygyne colonies the level of expression of foraging was not significantly associated with the Gp-9 genotype for either workers or young nonreproductive queens, suggesting that both genes have independent non-epistatic effects on behaviour in S. invicta.

Predator-dependent functional response in wolves: from food limitation to surplus killing

The functional response of a predator describes the change in per capita kill rate to changes in prey density. This response can be influenced by predator densities, giving a predator-dependent functional response. In social carnivores which defend a territory, kill rates also depend on the individual energetic requirements of group members and their contribution to the kill rate. This study aims to provide empirical data for the functional response of wolves Canis lupus to the highly managed moose Alces alces population in Scandinavia. We explored prey and predator dependence, and how the functional response relates to the energetic requirements of wolf packs. Winter kill rates of GPS-collared wolves and densities of cervids were estimated for a total of 22 study periods in 15 wolf territories. The adult wolves were identified as the individuals responsible for providing kills to the wolf pack, while pups could be described as inept hunters. The predator-dependent, asymptotic functional response models (i.e. Hassell-Varley type II and Crowley-Martin) performed best among a set of 23 competing linear, asymptotic and sigmoid models. Small wolf packs acquired >3 times as much moose biomass as required to sustain their field metabolic rate (FMR), even at relatively low moose abundances. Large packs (6-9 wolves) acquired less biomass than required in territories with low moose abundance. We suggest the surplus killing by small packs is a result of an optimal foraging strategy to consume only the most nutritious parts of easy accessible prey while avoiding the risk of being detected by humans. Food limitation may have a stabilizing effect on pack size in wolves, as supported by the observed negative relationship between body weight of pups and pack size.

Impacts of breeder loss on social structure, reproduction and population growth in a social canid

The importance of individuals to the dynamics of populations may depend on reproductive status, especially for species with complex social structure. Loss of reproductive individuals in socially complex species could disproportionately affect population dynamics by destabilizing social structure and reducing population growth. Alternatively, compensatory mechanisms such as rapid replacement of breeders may result in little disruption. The impact of breeder loss on the population dynamics of social species remains poorly understood. We evaluated the effect of breeder loss on social stability, recruitment and population growth of grey wolves (Canis lupus) in Denali National Park and Preserve, Alaska using a 26-year dataset of 387 radiocollared wolves. Harvest of breeding wolves is a highly contentious conservation and management issue worldwide, with unknown population-level consequences. Breeder loss preceded 77% of cases (n = 53) of pack dissolution from 1986 to 2012. Packs were more likely to dissolve if a female or both breeders were lost and pack size was small. Harvest of breeders increased the probability of pack dissolution, likely because the timing of harvest coincided with the breeding season of wolves. Rates of denning and successful recruitment were uniformly high for packs that did not experience breeder loss; however, packs that lost breeders exhibited lower denning and recruitment rates. Breeder mortality and pack dissolution had no significant effects on immediate or longer term population dynamics. Our results indicate the importance of breeding individuals is context dependent. The impact of breeder loss on social group persistence, reproduction and population growth may be greatest when average group sizes are small and mortality occurs during the breeding season. This study highlights the importance of reproductive individuals in maintaining group cohesion in social species, but at the population level socially complex species may be resilient to disruption and harvest through strong compensatory mechanisms.