Causes and consequences of variation in social network attributes in yellow-bellied marmots (<i>Marmota flaviventris</i>)
Abstract
Social behavior consists of distinct and measurable social attributes. While many previous studies have categorized species as social or not, or quantified group size, studying the functional correlates of separate attributes may offer more specific insights into the adaptive value of sociality, but this approach remains largely untested. In a study of yellow-bellied marmots (Marmota flaviventris), we examined the relationships among a number of social network attributes (Initiation, Reception, Out-closeness, In-closeness, Expansiveness, Attractiveness) in both affiliative and agonistic networks, and several fitness measures (annual reproductive success, parasite diversity, stress) in four different age-sex groups (adult females, adult males, yearling females, yearling males). Several general trends emerged. There were more benefits than costs associated with high values of both affiliative and agonistic social attributes; thus, sociality appears to be currently adaptive for this facultatively social species. Additionally, the particular associations among social attributes and fitness measures varied among different age-sex groups, suggesting that the adaptive value of sociality differs for females 43 and males and at different times of life. Furthermore, absolute amounts of direct interaction consistently had more observable effects than indirect interactions or the relative amounts of direct interaction. This may be a general trend in animal social networks, but remains to be tested in other species. Notably, these patterns only emerged by adopting an attribute-based approach, suggesting that partitioning sociality and fitness measures into a series of attributes may provide novel insights in other species.
Local Knowledge Graph (26 entities)
Related Works
Items connected by shared entities, co-authorship, citations, or semantic similarity.
Correlates and consequences of dominance in a social rodent
Heritable victimization and the benefits of agonistic relationships
Social cohesion in yellow-bellied marmots is established through age and kin structuring
Marmot mass gain rates relate to their group’s social structure
Data from: A cost of being amicable in a hibernating marmot
Data from: Strong social relationships are associated with decreased longevity in a facultatively social mammal
Small Mammals: A Beaver Pond Ecosystem and Adjacent Riparian Habitat in Idaho
An Ecological Basis for Beaver Management in the Rocky Mountain Region
Small Mammal Survey, Acid Fen, Mt. Emmons Gunnison, Colorado
References (106)
16 in Knowledge Hub, 90 external