Find research datasets worth reusing
Search datasets from major research repositories and use ShareScore to quickly assess how well each record supports discovery, access, and reuse.
49
datasets available to search
ShareScore release 0.9.0
Dataset results
49 results for “Social dispersion”
Data and code for: A supergene controlling social structure in Alpine ants also affects the dispersal ability and fecundity of each sex
<p>Social organisation, dispersal and fecundity co-evolve, but whether they are genetically linked remains little known. Supergenes are prime candidates for coupling adaptive traits and mediating sex-specific trade-offs. Here, we test whether a supergene that controls social structure in <em>Formica selysi</em> also influences dispersal-related traits and fecundity within each sex. In this ant species, single-queen colonies contain only the ancestral supergene haplotype <em>M</em> and produce<em> MM</em> queens and <em>M</em> males, while multi-queen colonies contain the derived haplotype <em>P</em> and produce <em>MP </em>queens, <em>PP</em> queens, and <em>P</em> males. By combining multiple experiments, we show that the <em>M </em>haplotype induces phenotypes with higher dispersal potential and higher fecundity, for both sexes. Specifically, <em>MM</em> queens, <em>MP</em> queens, and <em>M </em>males are more aerodynamic and more fecund than <em>PP </em>queens and <em>P</em> males, respectively. Differences between <em>MP</em> and <em>PP</em> queens from the same colonies reveal a direct genetic effect of the supergene on dispersal-related traits and fecundity. The derived haplotype <em>P</em>, associated with multi-queen colonies, produces queens and males with reduced dispersal abilities and lower fecundity. More broadly, similarities between the <em>Formica </em>and <em>Solenopsis</em> systems reveal that supergenes play a major role in linking behavioural, morphological, and physiological traits associated with intraspecific social polymorphisms.</p>
Data and code for: A supergene controlling social structure in Alpine ants also affects the dispersal ability and fecundity of each sex
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Disentangling the mechanisms linking dispersal and sociality in supergene-mediated ant social forms
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Bonds of bros and brothers: Kinship and social bonding in post-dispersal male macaques
Group-living animals often maintain a few very close affiliative relationships – social bonds – that can buffer them against many of the inevitable costs of gregariousness. Kinship plays a central role in the development of such social bonds. The bulk of research on kin biases in sociality has focused on philopatric females, who typically live in deeply kin-structured systems, with matrilineal dominance rank inheritance and life-long familiarity between kin. Closely related males, in contrast, are usually not close in rank or familiar, which offers the opportunity to test the importance of kinship per se in the formation of social bonds. So far, however, kin biases in male social bonding have only been tested in philopatric males, where familiarity remains a confounding factor. Here, we studied bonds between male Assamese macaques, a species in which males disperse from their natal groups, and in which male bonds are known to affect fitness. Combining extensive behavioural data on 43 adult males over a 10-year period with DNA microsatellite relatedness analyses, we find that post-dispersal males form stronger relationships with the few close kin available in the group than with the average non-kin. However, males form the majority of their bonds with non-kin, and may choose non-kin over available close kin to bond with. Our results show that kinship facilitates bond formation, but is not a prerequisite for it, which suggests that strong bonds are not restricted to kin in male mammals and that animals cooperate for both direct and indirect fitness benefits.
Social learning by mate-choice copying increases dispersal and reduces local adaptation
<p class="MsoPlainText">1. In heterogeneous environments, dispersal may be hampered not only by direct costs, but also because immigrants may be locally maladapted. While maladaptation affects both sexes, this cost may be modulated in females if they express mate preferences that are either adaptive or maladaptive in the new local population.</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">2. Dispersal costs under local adaptation may be mitigated if it is possible to switch to expressing traits of locally adapted residents. In a sexual selection context, immigrant females may learn to mate with locally favoured males. Mate-choice copying is a type of social learning, where individuals, usually females, update their mating preferences after observing others mate. If it allows immigrant females to switch from maladapted to locally adapted preferences, their dispersal costs are mitigated as mate choice helps them create locally adapted offspring.</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">3. To study if copying can promote the evolution of dispersal, we created an individual-based model to simulate the coevolution of four traits: copying, dispersal, a trait relevant for local adaptation, and female preference. We contrast two scenarios with copying — either unconditional, or conditional such that only dispersers copy — with a control scenario that lacks any copying.</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">4. We show copying to lead to higher dispersal, especially if copying is conditionally expressed. This leads to an increase in gene flow between patches and, consequently, a decrease in local adaptation and trait-preference correlations.</p> <p class="MsoPlainText">5. While our study is phrased with female preference as the learned trait, one may generally expect social learning to mitigate dispersal costs, with consequent feedback effects on the spatial dynamics of adaptation.</p>
Investigating social and environmental predictors of natal dispersal in a cooperative breeding bird
<p class="MsoNoSpacing"><span>Natal dispersal is a crucial life history trait that affects both individual fitness and population structure, yet drivers of variation in dispersal probability and distance are difficult to study in wild populations. In cooperatively breeding species, individuals typically delay dispersal beyond their first breeding season and remain on the natal territory as nonbreeders, which prolongs social dynamics that can affect dispersal decisions. Using a 35-year data set covering almost 600 dispersal events in the cooperatively breeding Florida scrub-jay (<i>Aphelocoma coerulescens</i>), we examined the environmental and social parameters that predict dispersal probability over time and distance. In both sexes, dispersal probability increased with age, which in turn was negatively correlated with dispersal distance. In males, individuals occupying low quality natal territories and living with a stepfather had an increased probability of dispersal. Older and more dominant males were more likely to inherit their natal territory. In females, which generally disperse earlier and farther than males, socially subordinate jays dispersed farther than dominant ones. Overall, jays that delayed dispersal the longest were more likely to attain breeding status near their natal territory, which was previously found to be associated with increased survival and lifetime fitness. Our results suggest that social dynamics and environmental factors on the natal territory affect delayed dispersal patterns differently for the two sexes in this cooperative breeder.</span></p>
Responses of a resident group to an outsider in the blue-breasted quail: a paradigm for studying social resettlement of dispersers
<p>Dispersal is an individual life history trait that can influence the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of both the source and recipient populations. Current studies of animal dispersal have paid little attention to how the responses of residents in a recipient population affect the social resettlement of dispersers into a new habitat. We addressed this question in the blue-breasted quail Synoicus chinensis by designing an outsider introduction experiment to simulate a scenario of interaction between residents and dispersers. In the experiment, we introduced an unfamiliar quail into a group of three differently ranked residents and then examined their behavioral responses to the arrival of the outsider. We found that all residents made negative responses by pecking at the outsider to maintain their pecking order, in which high-ranked residents displayed significantly greater intensity than those of lower ranks. This result highlighted that adverse behavioral responses of residents would prevent outsiders from obtaining hierarchical dominance in the recipient group. Moreover, the residents' sex ratio, their relative ages to the outsiders, and whether outsiders counter-pecked at the residents all influenced the probability of outsiders prevailing against the residents. Those outsiders that displayed counter-peck courage were more likely to gain higher dominance and hence resettle into the recipient group successfully. Our findings suggest that resident groups may impose a selection among dispersers via adverse behavioral responses. Therefore, social factors that can influence the resettlement step of dispersers in a new habitat should be accounted for in future studies of animal dispersal.</p>
Global expansion of a solitary-social tropical spitting spider shaped by multiple long-distance dispersals
<p>The spitting spider Scytodes fusca is well known species complex for its unusual hunting technique which involves spitting a venomous sticky silken substance over its prey. Previous studies supposed that S. fusca was native to Central and Southern America but had been expanded to the tropics of almost every continent. We aimed to test the hypothesis of a Neotropical origin for this spider followed by a secondary dispersal to other regions, and to discuss how population expansion occurred in the tropics was driven. We investigated the population structure and spatiotemporal biogeography of the species complex through a culmination of a 22-year comprehensive global sampling using the mitochondrial and nuclear loci (COI, 16S, 18S, 28S, H3 and ITS2). The S. fusca species complex is divided into two clades. One clade comprises the haplotypes from Australasian regions and a haplotype from Baja Peninsula, Mexico. The other is composed of the haplotypes from all analyzed regions including Asia, Australia, the Americas and Madagascar. The Americas and Madagascar populations exhibit a lower genetic diversity compared with the Australasian population, and both have different population demographic histories. The initial divergence within the species complex started during the early Miocene. Diversifications of both clades occurred during the late Miocene. One haplotype was recently and widely dispersed into Southeast Asia, South Asia, Australia, the Americas and Madagascar. Our results elucidate the global spread history of the S. fusca species complex, suggesting a Malay Archipelago origin, two expansion routes, and its multiple dispersals into the Americas that stem from a common native source population, as well as from Australia, Fiji, French Polynesia, or Turks and Caicos bridgeheads. Our data support that the expansion of the S. fusca species complex from Australasia to America and Madagascar was facilitated by long-distance jump dispersal events.</p>
Responses of a resident group to an outsider in the blue-breasted quail: a paradigm for studying social resettlement of dispersers
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Social learning by mate-choice copying increases dispersal and reduces local adaptation
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Bonds of bros and brothers: Kinship and social bonding in post-dispersal male macaques
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Global expansion of a solitary-social tropical spitting spider shaped by multiple long-distance dispersals
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Investigating social and environmental predictors of natal dispersal in a cooperative breeding bird
Open the record for dataset details and reuse information.
Data from: When to stay and when to leave? Proximate causes of dispersal in an endangered social carnivore
<p>1. Reliable estimates of birth, death, emigration, and immigration rates are fundamental to understanding and predicting the dynamics of wild populations and, consequently, inform appropriate management actions. However, when individuals disappear from a focal population, inference on their fate is often challenging.</p> <p><br> 2. Here we used 30 years of individual-based mark-recapture data from a population of free-ranging African wild dogs (Lycaon pictus) in Botswana and a suite of individual, social, and environmental predictors to investigate factors affecting the decision to emigrate from the pack. We subsequently used this information to assign an emigration probability to those individuals that were no longer sighted within their pack (i.e. missing individuals).</p> <p>3. Natal dispersal (i.e. emigration from the natal pack) showed seasonal patterns with female dispersal peaking prior to the mating season and male dispersal peaking at the beginning of the wet season. For both sexes, natal dispersal rate increased in the absence of unrelated individuals of the opposite sex in the pack. Male natal dispersal decreased with increasing number of pups in the pack and increased in larger packs. Female natal dispersal decreased with increasing number of pups in larger packs, but increased with increasing number of pups in smaller packs. Individuals of both sexes were less likely to exhibit secondary dispersal (i.e. emigration from a pack other than the natal pack) if they were dominant and if many pups were present in the pack.</p> <p>4. Our models predicted that 18% and 25% of missing females and males, respectively, had likely dispersed from the natal pack, rather than having died. A misclassification of this order of magnitude between dispersal and mortality can have far-reaching consequences in the evaluation and prediction of population dynamics and persistence, and potentially mislead conservation actions.</p> <p>5. Our study showed that the decision to disperse is context-dependent and that the effect of individual, social, and environmental predictors differs between males and females and between natal and secondary dispersal related to different direct and indirect fitness consequences. Furthermore, we demonstrated how a thorough understanding of the proximate causes of dispersal can be used to assign a dispersal probability to missing individuals. Knowledge of causes of dispersal can then be used within an integrated framework to more reliably estimate mortality rates.</p>
Data from: Growth affects dispersal success in social mole-rats, but not the duration of philopatry
In naked mole-rats (Heterocephalus glaber), some non-breeding males show faster growth and are more likely to disperse than others. These differences have been suggested to be the result of a specialized developmental strategy leading to shorter philopatry and independent breeding, as opposed to extended philopatry as non-reproductive helpers. However, it is unclear whether fast-growing males disperse sooner than slow-growing males. An alternative explanation is that variation in quality between individuals causes high-quality individuals to grow quickly and maximize dispersal success without reducing philopatry. Here we show, that in Damaraland mole-rats (Fukomys damarensis), males that subsequently disperse successfully, grow faster than other non-reproductive males. This pattern is predicted by both hypotheses and does not discriminate between them. However, contrary to the suggestion that faster growth represents a developmental specialisation for early dispersal, fast-growing and slow-growing males remained equally long in their natal groups. Our study provides no evidence for adaptive divergence in male development leading either to early dispersal, or extended philopatry. Instead of representing specialized dispersers, fast-growing males of this species may be high-quality individuals.
Data from: Epizoochorous dispersal by ungulates depends on fur, grooming and social interactions
The transport phase of the animal-mediated plant dispersal process is critical to dispersal effectiveness as it determines the spatial distribution of the diaspores released and their chance for further recruitment. Assessing this specific phase of the dispersal process generally requires combining diaspore retention times with the associated distances covered. Here, we specifically tested the effect of grooming behavior, interindividual contacts and ungulate fur on diaspore retention times and associated dispersal distances for the hooked diaspores of Xanthium strumarium L. experimentally attached to tamed individuals of three ungulate species. We used a comparative approach based on differing fur quality on different body zones of these three ungulates. During 6-hr sessions, we monitored for grooming and social interactions that may induce intended or inadvertent diaspore detachment. Additionally, we proposed innovative approaches to directly assessing diaspore dispersal distances by red deer in situ. Fat-tailed functions fitted diaspore retention time, highlighting the potential for long-distance dispersal events. The longer the hair, the higher the retention capacity of diaspores in the animal's fur. As predicted, donkey retained diaspores longer than red deer and dwarf goat; and we also confirmed that diaspores attached to the short hair of the head fell off more quickly than did those on the other body zones. Dwarf goat groomed more often than both red deer and donkey, but also when it carried diaspores. Up to 14% of the diaspores detached from animal fur after specific grooming behavior. We observed, in controlled conditions, for the first time and for each ungulate species, interindividual transfers of diaspores, representing 5% of the diaspores attached to animals' fur. Our results militate for incorporating animal behavior into plant dispersal modeling approaches.
Data from: Extreme genetic structure in a social bird species despite high dispersal capacity
Social barriers have been shown to reduce gene flow and contribute to genetic structure among populations in species with high cognitive capacity and complex societies, such as cetaceans, apes and humans. In birds, high dispersal capacity is thought to prevent population divergence unless major geographic or habitat barriers induce isolation patterns by dispersal, colonization or adaptation limitation. We report that Iberian populations of the red-billed chough, a social, gregarious corvid with high dispersal capacity, show a striking degree of genetic structure composed of at least 15 distinct genetic units. Monitoring of marked individuals over 30 years revealed that long-distance movements over hundreds of kilometres are common, yet recruitment into breeding populations is infrequent and highly philopatric. Genetic differentiation is weakly related to geographic distance and habitat types used are overall qualitatively similar among regions and regularly shared by individuals of different populations, so that genetic structure is unlikely to be due solely to isolation by distance or isolation by adaptation. Moreover, most population nuclei showed relatively high levels of genetic diversity, suggesting a limited role for genetic drift in significantly differentiating populations. We propose that social mechanisms may underlie this unprecedented level of genetic structure in birds through a pattern of isolation by social barriers not yet described, which may have driven this remarkable population divergence in the absence of geographic and environmental barriers.
Data from: Space use and social association in a gregarious ungulate: testing the conspecific attraction and resource dispersion hypotheses
Animals use a variety of proximate cues to assess habitat quality when resources vary spatiotemporally. Two nonmutually exclusive strategies to assess habitat quality involve either direct assessment of landscape features or observation of social cues from conspecifics as a form of information transfer about forage resources. The conspecific attraction hypothesis proposes that individual space use is dependent on the distribution of conspecifics rather than the location of resource patches, whereas the resource dispersion hypothesis proposes that individual space use and social association are driven by the abundance and distribution of resources. We tested the conspecific attraction and the resource dispersion hypotheses as two nonmutually exclusive hypotheses explaining social association and of adult female caribou (Rangifer tarandus). We used location data from GPS collars to estimate interannual site fidelity and networks representing home range overlap and social associations among individual caribou. We found that home range overlap and social associations were correlated with resource distribution in summer and conspecific attraction in winter. In summer, when resources were distributed relatively homogeneously, interannual site fidelity was high and home range overlap and social associations were low. Conversely, in winter when resources were distributed relatively heterogeneously, interannual site fidelity was low and home range overlap and social associations were high. As access to resources changes across seasons, caribou appear to alter social behavior and space use. In summer, caribou may use cues associated with the distribution of forage, and in winter caribou may use cues from conspecifics to access forage. Our results have broad implications for our understanding of caribou socioecology, suggesting that caribou use season‐specific strategies to locate forage. Caribou populations continue to decline globally, and our finding that conspecific attraction is likely related to access to forage suggests that further fragmentation of caribou habitat could limit social association among caribou, particularly in winter when access to resources may be limited.
Data from: Building genetic networks using relatedness information: a novel approach for the estimation of dispersal and characterization of group structure in social animals
Natal dispersal is an important life history trait driving variation in individual fitness and, therefore, a proper understanding of the factors underlying dispersal behaviour is critical to many fields including population dynamics, behavioural ecology and conservation biology. However, individual dispersal patterns remain difficult to quantify despite many years of research using direct and indirect methods. Here, we quantify dispersal in a single intensively-studied population of the cooperatively breeding chestnut-crowned babbler (Pomatostomus ruficeps) using genetic networks created from the combination of pairwise relatedness data and social networking methods and compare this to dispersal estimates from re-sighting data. Not only does this novel approach identify movements between social groups within our study sites but also provides an estimation of immigration rates of individuals originating outside the study site. Both genetic and re-sighting data indicated that dispersal was strongly female-biased, but the magnitude of dispersal estimates was much greater using genetic data. This suggests that many previous studies relying on mark-recapture data may have significantly underestimated dispersal. An analysis of spatial genetic structure within the sampled population also supports the idea that females are more dispersive, with females having no structure beyond the bounds of their own social group while male genetic structure expands for 750 meters from their social group. Although the genetic network approach we have used is an excellent tool for visualising the social and genetic microstructure of social animals and identifying dispersers, our results also indicate the importance of applying them in parallel with behavioural and life history data.
Data from: Group size and social status affect scent marking in dispersing female meerkats
Many animal species use scent marks such as faeces, urine, and glandular secretions to find mates, advertise their reproductive status, and defend an exclusive territory. Scent marking may be particularly important during dispersal, when individuals emigrate from their natal territory searching for mates and a new territory to settle and reproduce. In this study, we investigated the scent marking behaviour of 30 dispersing female meerkats (Suricata suricatta) during the three consecutive stages of dispersal – emigration, transience, and settlement. We expected marking patterns to differ between dispersal stages and depending on social circumstances such as presence of unrelated mates and social status of the individuals within each dispersing coalition; but also to be influenced by water and food availability. We showed that defecation probability increased with group size during the settlement stage, when newly formed groups are expected to signal their presence to other resident groups. Urination probability was higher in subordinate than in dominant individuals during each of the three dispersal stages, and it overall decreased as the dispersal process progressed. Urine may thus be linked to advertisement of the social status within a coalition. Anal marking probability did not change across dispersal stages, but increased with the presence of unrelated males and was higher in dominants than in subordinates. We did not detect any effect of rain or foraging success on defecation and urination probability. Our results suggest that faeces, urine, and anal markings serve different communication purposes (e.g. within and between group communication) during the dispersal process.
ScienceDex guides
Understand access before you commit
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.