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444 results for “social network”
Data from: Hierarchical social networks shape gut microbial composition in wild Verreaux's sifaka
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Multilevel selection on social network traits differs between sexes in experimental populations of forked fungus beetles
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Hierarchically embedded scales of movement shape the social networks of vampire bats
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Social network differences and phenotypic divergence between stickleback ecotypes
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Data for: Social network data in wild great tits during ontogeny
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Dynamic shifts in social network structure and composition within a breeding hybrid population
1. Mating behavior and the timing of reproduction can inhibit genetic exchange between closely related species; however, these reproductive barriers are challenging to measure within natural populations. Social network analysis provides promising tools for studying the social context of hybridization, and the exchange of genetic variation, more generally. 2. We test how social networks within a hybrid population of California (Callipepla californica) and Gambel's quail (Callipepla gambelii) change over discrete periods of a breeding season. We assess patterns of phenotypic and genotypic assortment, and ask whether altered associations between individuals (association rewiring), or changes to the composition of the population (individual turnover) drive network dynamics. We use genetic data to test whether social associations and relatedness between individuals correlate with patterns of parentage within the hybrid population. 3. To achieve these aims, we combine RFID association data, phenotypic data, and genomic measures with social network analyses. We adopt methods from the ecological network literature to quantify shifts in network structure and to partition changes into those due to individual turnover and association rewiring. We integrate genomic data into networks as node-level attributes (ancestry) and edges (relatedness, parentage) to test links between social and parentage networks. 4. We show that rewiring of associations between individuals that persist across network periods, rather than individual turnover, drives the majority of the changes in network structure throughout the breeding season, and that the traits involved in phenotypic/genotypic assortment were highly dynamic over time. Social networks were randomly assorted based upon genetic ancestry, suggesting weak behavioral reproductive isolation within this hybrid population. Finally, we show that the strength of associations within the social network, but not levels of genetic relatedness, predict patterns of parentage. 5. Social networks play an important role in population processes such as the transmission of disease and information, yet there has been less focus on how networks influence the exchange of genetic variation. By integrating analyses of social structure, phenotypic assortment, and reproductive outcomes within a hybrid zone, we demonstrate the utility of social networks for analyzing links between social context and gene flow within wild populations. 08-Jul-2020
Social network position experiences more variable selection than weaponry in wild subpopulations of forked fungus beetles
<p>1. The phenotypic expression and fitness consequences of behaviors that are exhibited during social interactions are especially sensitive to their local social context. This context-dependence is expected to generate more variation in the sign and magnitude of selection on social behavior than that experienced by static characters like morphology. Relatively few studies, however, have examined selection on behavioral traits in multiple populations. 2. We estimated sexual selection in the wild to determine if the strength and form of selection on social phenotypes is more variable than that on morphology. 3. We compared selection gradients on social network position, body size, and weaponry of male forked fungus beetles (Bolitotherus cornutus) as they influenced mating success across nine natural subpopulations. 4. Male horn length consistently experienced positive sexual selection. However, the sign and magnitude of selection on individual measures of network centrality (strength and betweenness) differed significantly among subpopulations. Moreover, selection on social behaviors occurred at local scale ("soft selection"), whereas selection on horn length occurred at the metapopulation scale ("hard selection"). 5. These results indicate that an individual with a given social phenotype could experience different fitness consequences depending on the network it occupies. While individuals seem to be unable to escape the fitness effects of their morphology, they may have the potential to mediate the pressures of selection on behavioral phenotypes by moving among subpopulations or altering social connections within a network.</p>
Data from: Detecting and quantifying social transmission using network-based diffusion analysis
<p>1. Although social learning capabilities are taxonomically widespread, demonstrating that freely interacting animals (whether wild or captive) rely on social learning has proved remarkably challenging.</p> <p>2. Network-based diffusion analysis (NBDA) offers a means for detecting social learning using observational data on freely interacting groups. Its core assumption is that if a target behaviour is socially transmitted, then its spread should follow the connections in a social network that reflects social learning opportunities.</p> <p>3. Here, we provide a comprehensive guide for using NBDA. We first introduce its underlying mathematical framework and present the types of questions that NBDA can address. We then guide researchers through the process of: selecting an appropriate social network for their research question; determining which NBDA variant should be used; and incorporating other variables that may impact asocial and social learning. Finally, we discuss how to interpret an NBDA model's output and provide practical recommendations for model selection.</p> <p>4. Throughout, we highlight extensions to the basic NBDA framework, including incorporation of dynamic networks to capture changes in social relationships during a diffusion and using a multi-network NBDA to estimate information flow across multiple types of social relationship.</p> <p>5. Alongside this information, we provide worked examples and tutorials demonstrating how to perform analyses using the newly developed NBDA package written in the R programming language.</p>
Interspecific social dominance networks reveal mechanisms promoting coexistence in sympatric charrs in Hokkaido, Japan
<p>1. Coexistence of species requires equalizing mechanisms that minimize fitness differences, which are balanced by stabilizing mechanisms that enhance negative intraspecific interactions versus interspecific ones. Here, we develop a simple theoretical framework that allows measuring the relative strength of intraspecific versus interspecific competition in dominance hierarchies. We use it to evaluate mechanisms promoting coexistence between congeneric charrs that compete for foraging positions, which strongly influence density-dependent growth and survival.</p> <p>2. Agonistic interactions (n = 761) among 71 Dolly Varden Salvelinus malma and whitespotted charr S. leucomaenis were measured by snorkeling in two pools in the sympatric zone of a Hokkaido stream during two summers. Interspecific dominance hierarchies, analyzed using three methods, were closely correlated with fish length but the species treated each other equally. Ranks for the most dominant fish in each pool, determined directly by knockout experiments, were also virtually identical to ranks by length.</p> <p>3. Similarly, exponential random graph modeling of the social networks provided no evidence that either species was dominant over the other. Instead, larger fish were more likely to win contests, especially over fish of the next lower ranks.</p> <p>4. These results demonstrated that the two species were nearly ecological equivalents in accessing key resources in this sympatric zone. Nearly identical growth and stable densities over 4 years further supported this inference, although Dolly Varden were a minority (29% of the assemblage), a sign of some fitness difference.</p> <p>5. Detailed foraging observations coupled with two concurrent studies revealed an effective stabilizing mechanism. Dolly Varden shifted to feeding directly from the benthos when drifting invertebrates declined, a behavior enhanced by morphological character displacement, thereby partitioning food resources and enhancing intraspecific competition while avoiding agonistic encounters with whitespotted charr.</p> <p>6. The plurality of evidence indicates that fitness differences between these ecologically equivalent species are small in this local assemblage, and balanced by resource partitioning, a modest stabilizing mechanism that promotes coexistence. The theoretical framework presented here is a useful tool to evaluate the strength of interspecific versus intraspecific competition, which combined with information on tradeoffs in ecological performance can contribute to a mechanistic understanding of species coexistence. 26-Oct-2020</p>
A Large Open Dataset from the Parler Social Network
<p>There are two main zip files in this dataset. Each zip file contains multiple <a href="http://ndjson.org/">newline delimited JSON files</a>. The JSON objects in each file contain all the key/value pairs returned from their respective Parler API endpoints.</p> <p><strong>NOTE:</strong> All identifying data has been redacted by removing the "name" field from posts, comments and user profiles.</p> <p><a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2101.03820">Current paper</a> for more details and preferred citation information.</p> <p> </p> <p><strong>Parler Users (parler_user.zip)</strong></p> <p>Returned by the <em>/v1/profile</em> endpoint. Each line consists of an individual user profile object.</p> <p><strong>Parler Posts and Comments (parlerpostcomments.zip)</strong></p> <p>Returned by the <em>/v1/post[comment] </em>endpoints. Each line consists of an individual post or comment object.</p> <p><strong>How to extract the data:</strong></p> <p>The data provided is compressed in zip format. See the instructions below on how to extract it:</p> <ul> <li><strong>Linux and Mac</strong></li> </ul> <p>Navigate to the file in a terminal window or file browser.</p> <p>Run the following command (or typically you can double click if you are in a file browser):</p> <p>User profiles:</p> <pre><code>unzip parler_users.zip</code></pre> <p>Posts and comments:</p> <pre><code>unzip parler_data.zip</code></pre> <p>The unzipped version contains multiple files for each data type.</p> <ul> <li><strong>Windows</strong></li> </ul> <p>Microsoft provides instructions on to extract a zip file. The authors cannot recommend a particular method or software.</p>
Data from: Brain functional networks associated with social bonding in monogamous voles
<p>Previous studies have related pair bonding in Microtus ochrogaster, the prairie vole, with plastic changes in several brain regions. However, the interactions between these socially-relevant regions have yet to be described. In this study, we used resting state magnetic resonance imaging to explore bonding behaviors and functional connectivity of brain regions previously associated with pair bonding. Thirty-two male and female prairie voles were scanned at baseline, 24h and 2 weeks after the onset of cohabitation. By using network based statistics, we identified that the functional connectivity of a cortico-striatal network predicted the onset of affiliative behavior, while another predicted the amount of social interaction during a partner preference test. Furthermore, a network with significant changes in time was revealed, also showing associations with the level of partner preference. Overall, our findings revealed the association between network-level functional connectivity changes and social bonding.</p>
Social network structure is robust to parasite induced changes in contact behavior of domestic sheep
<p>Understanding how parasitism may affect social behavior and social networks is key to understanding the impact of infection on a population. Infection can disrupt social networks by altering the behavior of both infected individuals (e.g. by reducing activity) and the behavior of uninfected individuals (e.g. avoiding sick individuals), both of which can <span>have an impact on social group dynamics and parasite transmission</span>. Here we test experimentally how parasitism affects social contact behavior and social network structure using a common parasite infection of sheep. Three treatment groups, each with 4 replicate social groups were established (i) Parasitised; all lambs were infected with a parasitic nematode, (ii) Non-parasitised; all lambs remained uninfected (iii) Mixed; part of each group were infected, and part of the group remained uninfected. Contact behaviours of each individual were recorded using proximity loggers during four phases of infection (pre-parasite, pre-patent, patent-parasite, post-parasite). We found infected individuals in the parasitised and mixed groups reduced contact frequency following infection. Infected individuals in mixed groups however reduced contact frequency to a greater extent than infected animals in the fully parasitised group. D<span>espite the reduction in contacts between infected animals in the mixed group, the social network structure was unaffected, as non-infected individuals maintained pre-parasite levels of social interactions with their infected conspecifics. </span><span>These results demonstrate </span>how infection can impact the social behavior of all animals within a group, and how the expression of behavioral change may depend on the parasitic status of all group members and the response of uninfected conspecifics.</p>
Data from: Social networks reveal sex- and age-patterned social structure in Butler's Gartersnakes
<p>Sex- and age-based social structures have been well-documented in animals with visible aggregations. However, very little is known about the social structures of snakes. This is most likely because snakes are often considered non-social animals and are particularly difficult to observe in the wild. Here, we show that wild Butler's Gartersnakes have an age and sex assorted social structure similar to more commonly studied social animals. To demonstrate this, we use data from a 12-year capture-mark-recapture study to identify social interactions using social network analyses. We find that the social structures of Butler's Gartersnakes comprise sex- and age-assorted intra-species communities with older females often central and age segregation partially due to patterns of study site use. In addition, we find that females tended to increase in sociability as they aged while the opposite occurred in males. We also present evidence that social interaction may provide fitness benefits, where snakes that were part of a social network were more likely to have improved body condition. We demonstrate that conventional capture data can reveal valuable information on social structures in cryptic species. This is particularly valuable as research has consistently demonstrated that understanding social structure is important for conservation efforts. Additionally, research on the social patterns of animals without obvious social groups provides valuable insight into the evolution of group living.</p>
Simulated results from an agent-based model examining inequality and innovation in social networks
<p>Theories of innovation often balance contrasting views that either smart people create smart things or smartly constructed institutions create smart things. While population models have shown factors including population size, connectivity, and agent behavior as crucial for innovation, few have taken the individual-central approach seriously by examining the role individuals play within their groups. To explore how network structures influence not only population-level innovation but also performance among individuals, we studied an agent-based model of the Potions Task, a paradigm developed to test how structure affects a group's ability to solve a difficult exploration task. We explore how size, connectivity, and rates of information sharing in a network influence innovation and how these have an impact on the emergence of inequality in terms of agent contributions. We find, in line with prior work, population size has a positive effect on innovation, but that large and small populations perform similarly per capita; that many small groups outperform fewer large groups; that random changes to structure have few effects on innovation; and that the highest performing agents tend to occupy more central network positions. Moreover, we show that every network factor which facilitates innovation leads to a proportional increase in inequality of performance, creating "genius effects" among otherwise "dumb" agents in both idealized and real-world networks.</p>
Data from: Jeans and language: social networks and reproductive success are associated with the adoption of outgroup norms
<p><span>Traditional norms of human societies in rural China may have changed due to population expansion, rapid development of the tourism economy and globalization since </span><span>the</span><span> 1990s; people from different ethnic groups might adopt cultural traits from out</span><span>side</span><span> their group or lose their own culture at different rates. Human behavioural ecology can help to explain adoption of outgroup cultural values. We compared the adoption of four cultural values, specifically speaking outgroup languages/mother tongue and wearing jeans, in two co-residing ethnic groups, the Mosuo and Han. Both groups are learning outgroup traits, including each other's languages through contact in economic activities, education and social networks, but only the Mosuo are starting to lose their own language. Males are more likely to adopt outgroup values than females in both groups. Females of the two groups are no different in speaking Mandarin and wearing jeans, whereas males do differ, with Mosuo males being keener to adopt them than Han males. </span><span>The reason might be that Mosuo men experience more reproductive competition over mates than others, as Mosuo men have larger reproductive skews than others. Moreover, Mosuo men but not others gain fitness benefits from the adoption of Mandarin (they start </span><span>reproducing</span><span> earlier than non-speakers).</span></p> <p><span>This article is part of the theme issue 'Social norm change: from evolution to policy intervention'.</span></p>
Social network shrinking is explained by active and passive effects but not increasing selectivity with age in wild macaques
<p>Evidence of social disengagement, network narrowing, and social selectivity with advancing age in several non-human animals challenges our understanding of the causes of social ageing. Natural animal populations are needed to test whether social ageing and selectivity occur under natural predation and extrinsic mortality pressures, and longitudinal studies are particularly valuable to disentangle the contribution of within-individual ageing from the demographic processes that shape social ageing at the population level. Data on wild Assamese macaques (<em>Macaca assamensis</em>) were collected between 2013 and 2020 at the Phu Khieo Wildlife Sanctuary, Thailand. We investigated the social behaviour of 61 adult females observed for 13,270 hours to test several mechanistic hypotheses of social ageing and evaluated the consistency between patterns from mixed-longitudinal and within-individual analyses. With advancing age, females reduced the size of their social network, which could not be explained by an overall increase in the time spent alone, but by an age-related decline in mostly active, but also passive, behaviour, best demonstrated by within-individual analyses. A selective tendency to approach preferred partners was maintained into old age but did not increase. Our results contribute to our understanding of the driver of social ageing in natural animal populations and suggest that social disengagement and selectivity follow independent trajectories during ageing.</p>
Data from: Heat stress conditions affect the social network structure of free‐ranging sheep
<p>Extreme weather conditions, like heatwave events, are becoming more frequent with climate change. Animals often modify their behaviour to cope with environmental changes and extremes. During heat stress conditions, individuals change their spatial behaviour and increase the use of shaded areas to assist with thermoregulation. Here, we suggest that for social species, these behavioural changes and ambient conditions have the potential to influence an individual's position in its social network, and the social network structure as a whole. We investigated whether heat stress conditions (quantified through the temperature humidity index) and the resulting use of shaded areas, influence the social network structure and an individual's connectivity in it. We studied this in free‐ranging sheep in the arid zone of Australia, GPS‐tracking all 48 individuals in a flock. When heat stress conditions worsened, individuals spent more time in the shade and the network was more connected (higher density) and less structured (lower modularity). Furthermore, we then identified the behavioural change that drove the altered network structure and showed that an individual's shade use behaviour affected its social connectivity. Interestingly, individuals with intermediate shade use were most strongly connected (degree, strength, betweenness), indicating their importance for the connectivity of the social network during heat stress conditions. Heat stress conditions, which are predicted to increase in severity and frequency due to climate change, influence resource use within the ecological environment. Importantly, our study shows that these heat stress conditions also affect the animal's social environment through the changed social network structure. Ultimately, this could have further flow on effects for social foraging and individual health since social structure drives information and disease transmission.</p>
Little brown myotis social networks
<p>Bats are a group of mammals well known for forming dynamic social groups. Studies of bat social structures are often based upon the frequency at which bats occupy the same roosts because observing bats directly is not always possible. However, it is not always clear how closely bats occupying the same roost associate with each other, obscuring whether associations result from social relationships or factors such as shared preferences for roosts. Our goal was to determine if bats cohabitating buildings were also found together inside roosts by using anti-collision technology for PIT tags, which enables simultaneous detection of multiple tags. We PIT-tagged 293 female little brown myotis (<i>Myotis lucifugus</i>) and installed antennas within two buildings used as maternity roosts in Yellowstone National Park. Antennas were positioned at roost entryways to generate cohabitation networks and along regions of attic ceilings in each building to generate intra-roost networks based on proximity of bats to each other. We found that intra-roost and cohabitation networks of buildings were significantly correlated, with the same bats tending to be linked in both networks, but that bats cohabitating the same building often roosted apart, leading to differing assessments of social structure. Cohabitation rates implied that bats associate with a greater number of their roost-mates than was supported by observations within the roost. This caused social networks built upon roost cohabitation rates to be denser, smaller in diameter, and contain nodes with higher average degree centrality. These results show that roost cohabitation does not reflect preference for roost-mates in little brown myotis, as is often inferred from similar studies, and that social network analyses based on cohabitation may provide misleading results.</p>
Code and data from: Familiarity, dominance, sex and season shape common waxbill social networks.
<p><span>In gregarious animals, social network positions of individuals may influence their life-history and fitness. Although </span><span>association patterns </span><span>and the position of individuals </span><span>in social networks </span><span>can be shaped by phenotypic differences and by past interactions, few studies have quantified their relative importance. We evaluated how phenotypic differences and familiarity influence social preferences and the position of individuals within the social network. We monitored wild-caught common waxbills (<em>Estrilda astrild</em>) with radio-frequency identifiers in a large mesocosm during the non-breeding and breeding seasons of two consecutive years. We found that social networks were similar, and that the centrality of individuals was repeatable, across seasons and years, indicating a stable social phenotype. Nonetheless, there were seasonal changes in social structure: waxbills associated more strongly with opposite-sex individuals in breeding seasons, while in non-breeding seasons they instead assorted according to similarities in social dominance. We also observed stronger assortment between birds that were introduced to the mesocosm at the same time, indicating long-lasting bonds among familiar individuals. Waxbills that had been introduced to the mesocosm more recently occupied more central network positions, especially during breeding seasons, perhaps indicating that these birds </span><span>had</span><span> less </span><span>socially-differentiated associations with</span><span> flock members. Finally, individual differences in color ornamentation and behavioral assays of personality, inhibitory control and stress were not related to network centrality or association patterns</span><span>.</span><span> Together, these results suggest that, in gregarious species like the common waxbill, social networks may be more strongly shaped by long-lasting associations with familiar individuals than by phenotypic differences among group members.</span></p>
Data from: Improving governance outcomes for water quality: insights from participatory social network analysis for chalk stream catchments in England
<p>Globally important chalk streams in England are in poor ecological health, in part due to inadequate water quality. Addressing this issue requires an understanding of the governance systems that surround water quality. The complexity and uncertainty inherent in hydrological systems has led to the emergence of integrated and adaptive forms of governance. In these multi-actor governance systems, the structure of the relationships between actors (the social network) has been shown to affect governance processes and outcomes.</p> <p>Using participatory social network analysis, we mapped and analysed the social networks for the River Test and River Itchen in Hampshire, UK, to identify actors and their roles, determine the network characteristics, and identify interventions to improve governance.</p> <p>Although the results suggest a well connected network of actors from the state, private sector and civil society, we find that decision making is not decentralised. Bureaucratic governance by central state actors dominates. However, trust in these central state actors and private actors in the networks is low, which undermines collaboration and co-ordination in the network.</p> <p>Devolving authority to local actors, building trust in the networks, and improving connections to important actors could help to improve governance outcomes for water quality.</p>
ScienceDex guides
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These curated guides explain access requirements, typical timelines, costs, and reuse considerations for widely used research datasets.
Allen Brain Atlas
Allen Brain Atlas is an Allen Institute collection of brain map atlases, datasets, APIs, and analysis tools covering mouse, human, and non-human primate brain resources.
Annotated Behaviour and Observability Dataset (ABODe)
ABODe is a University of Edinburgh DataShare dataset for behavior classification in group-housed mice using home-cage video, identities, bounding boxes, ground-plate positions, and annotator labels.
DANDI Archive for NWB datasets
DANDI is a BRAIN Initiative archive for publishing and sharing neurophysiology data, including electrophysiology, optophysiology, and behavioral data packaged as NWB and related standards.
International Brain Laboratory public data
The International Brain Laboratory public data releases expose standardized mouse decision-making experiments, including Neuropixels recordings, widefield calcium imaging, behavior, and session metadata accessed through the ONE API.
OpenNeuro
OpenNeuro is a free, open platform for sharing neuroimaging datasets, with public search, dataset pages, and download paths for web, S3, DataLad, and the OpenNeuro CLI.