Presentation Details
| Social Uncertainty Influences the Balance of Quantity and Quality of Cooperative Relationships C Raven A Hartman1, Angeles Salles1, Gerald G Carter2, 3, 4. 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Illinois Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, USA.2Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA.3Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, Maryland, USA.4Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Gamboa, Panamá, Panama |
Abstract
Many animals develop and maintain affiliative social relationships, which can improve fitness but requires significant investment. How should individuals allocate investment towards building new relationships (“diversifying”) versus maintaining existing ones (“focusing”)? The social bet-hedging hypothesis states that conditions of greater social certainty (more reliable partner availability) favour greater focusing, whereas conditions of social uncertainty favour diversifying. Here, we used an agent-based model to test the relative reproductive success of different “social-networking strategies” in vampire bats under conditions of greater or lower social uncertainty. To manipulate social uncertainty, we manipulated roost-switching rates, foraging success rates, and predation rates across simulations with realistic patterns of foraging, social behavior, ageing, reproduction, and death. We show that greater social uncertainty favors comparatively greater investment in relationship quantity, rather than quality. Balancing the benefits of focusing and diversifying attention across social partners may be an important yet underappreciated factor explaining social network structure.
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No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author.
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