The evolutionary and ecological consequences of animal social networks: emerging issues

Kurvers, Ralf H. J. M.; Krause, Jens; Croft, Darren P.; Wilson, Alexander D. M.; Wolf, Max

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2014.04.002

Cited by 194 publications

(179 citation statements)

References 93 publications

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“…Our results show (i) that the transfer of social information in Drosophila mimics a mutual exchange of information between trained and untrained flies, and (ii) that the number of social interactions depends on the composition of groups. This study confirms that social structure matters and might affect many evolutionary processes such as cooperation, host-pathogen interactions and information exchange (see [19] for a review). Social learning is usually treated as if it was a unidirectional transfer of information from a social demonstrator (like our trained flies) to a social learner (like our untrained flies).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Ecology of information: social transmission dynamics within groups of non-social insects

et al. 2015

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While many studies focus on how animals use public information, the dynamics of information spread and maintenance within groups, i.e. the 'ecology of information', have received little attention. Here we use fruitflies trained to lay eggs on specific substrates to implement information into groups containing both trained and untrained individuals. We quantify inter-individual interactions and then measure the spread of oviposition preference with behavioural tests. Untrained individuals increase their interactive approaches in the presence of trained individuals, and the oviposition preference transmission is directly proportional to how much trained and untrained individuals interact. Unexpectedly, the preference of trained individuals to their trained oviposition substrate decreases after interactions with untrained individuals, leading to an overall informational loss. This shows that social learning alone is not enough to support informational stability.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 82%

Ecology of information: social transmission dynamics within groups of non-social insects

et al. 2015

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“…Social network analysis (SNA) has become a prominent tool to study the social life of animals in general (Croft, James, & Krause, 2008;Krause, Lusseau, & James, 2009;Kurvers, Krause, Croft, Wilson, & Wolf, 2014;Wey, Blumstein, Shen, & Jordán, 2008;Whitehead, 2008). and of primates in particular (Brent, Lehmann, & Ramos-Fernandez, 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Using Automated Learning Devices for Monkeys (ALDM) to study social networks

et al. 2015

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Social network analysis has become a prominent tool to study animal social life, and there is an increasing need to develop new systems to collect social information automatically, systematically, and reliably. Here we explore the use of a freely accessible Automated Learning Device for Monkeys (ALDM) to collect such social information on a group of 22 captive baboons (Papio papio). We compared the social network obtained from the co-presence of the baboons in ten ALDM testing booths to the social network obtained through standard behavioral observation techniques. The results show that the co-presence network accurately reflects the social organization of the group, and also indicate under which conditions the co-presence network is most informative. In particular, the best correlation between the two networks was obtained with a minimum of 40 days of computer records and for individuals with at least 500 records per day. We also show through random permutation tests that the observed correlations go beyond what would be observed by simple synchronous activity, to reflect a preferential choice of closely located testing booths. The use of automatized cognitive testing therefore presents a new way of obtaining a large and regular amount of social information that is necessary to develop social network analysis. It also opens the possibility of studying dynamic changes in network structure with time and in relation to the cognitive performance of individuals.

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“…The social environment has repeatedly been shown to shape individual fitness, population dynamics and selection acting on behavioural and morphological traits, not only in humans [1][2][3], but also in other animals [4][5][6][7]. One of the main pathways for these effects is via the influence of the social environment on reproductive success.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Carry-over effects of the social environment on future divorce probability in a wild bird population

2015

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ResearchCite this article: Culina A, Hinde CA, Sheldon BC. 2015 Carry-over effects of the social environment on future divorce probability in a wild bird population. Proc. R. Soc. Initial mate choice and re-mating strategies (infidelity and divorce) influence individual fitness. Both of these should be influenced by the social environment, which determines the number and availability of potential partners. While most studies looking at this relationship take a population-level approach, individual-level responses to variation in the social environment remain largely unstudied. Here, we explore carry-over effects on future mating decisions of the social environment in which the initial mating decision occurred. Using detailed data on the winter social networks of great tits, we tested whether the probability of subsequent divorce, a year later, could be predicted by measures of the social environment at the time of pairing. We found that males that had a lower proportion of female associates, and whose partner ranked lower among these, as well as inexperienced breeders, were more likely to divorce after breeding. We found no evidence that a female's social environment influenced the probability of divorce. Our findings highlight the importance of the social environment that individuals experience during initial pair formation on later pairing outcomes, and demonstrate that such effects can be delayed. Exploring these extended effects of the social environment can yield valuable insights into processes and selective pressures acting upon the mating strategies that individuals adopt.

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The evolutionary and ecological consequences of animal social networks: emerging issues

Cited by 194 publications

References 93 publications

Ecology of information: social transmission dynamics within groups of non-social insects

Ecology of information: social transmission dynamics within groups of non-social insects

Using Automated Learning Devices for Monkeys (ALDM) to study social networks

Carry-over effects of the social environment on future divorce probability in a wild bird population

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