ORCID Profile
0000-0003-2985-6788
Current Organisation
The University of Newcastle
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Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 07-2023
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.230402
Abstract: Fission–fusion events, i.e. changes to the size and composition of animal social groups, are a mechanism to adjust the social environment in response to short-term changes in the cost–benefit ratio of group living. Furthermore, the time and location of fission–fusion events provide insight into the underlying drivers of these dynamics. Here, we describe a method for identifying group membership over time and for extracting fission–fusion events from animal tracking data. We applied this method to high-resolution GPS data of free-ranging sheep ( Ovis aries ). Group size was highest during times when sheep typically rest (midday and at night), and when anti-predator benefits of grouping are high while costs of competition are low. Consistent with this, fission and fusion frequencies were highest during early morning and late evening, suggesting that social restructuring occurs during periods of high activity. However, fission and fusion events were not more frequent near food patches and water resources when adjusted for overall space use. This suggests a limited role of resource competition. Our results elucidate the dynamics of grouping in response to social and ecological drivers, and we provide a tool for investigating these dynamics in other species.
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2020
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Date: 31-01-2017
DOI: 10.7554/ELIFE.19505
Abstract: For group-living animals traveling through heterogeneous landscapes, collective movement can be influenced by both habitat structure and social interactions. Yet research in collective behavior has largely neglected habitat influences on movement. Here we integrate simultaneous, high-resolution, tracking of wild baboons within a troop with a 3-dimensional reconstruction of their habitat to identify key drivers of baboon movement. A previously unexplored social influence – baboons’ preference for locations that other troop members have recently traversed – is the most important predictor of in idual movement decisions. Habitat is shown to influence movement over multiple spatial scales, from long-range attraction and repulsion from the troop’s sleeping site, to relatively local influences including road-following and a short-range avoidance of dense vegetation. Scaling to the collective level reveals a clear association between habitat features and the emergent structure of the group, highlighting the importance of habitat heterogeneity in shaping group coordination.
Publisher: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
Date: 16-11-2016
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 26-03-2018
Abstract: Collective decision-making is a daily occurrence in the lives of many group-living animals, and can have critical consequences for the fitness of in iduals. Understanding how decisions are reached, including who has influence and the mechanisms by which information and preferences are integrated, has posed a fundamental challenge. Here, we provide a methodological framework for studying influence and leadership in groups. We propose that in iduals have influence if their actions result in some behavioural change among their group-mates, and are leaders if they consistently influence others. We highlight three components of influence (influence instances, total influence and consistency of influence), which can be assessed at two levels (in idual-to-in idual and in idual-to-group). We then review different methods, ranging from in idual positioning within groups to information-theoretic approaches, by which influence has been operationally defined in empirical studies, as well as how such observations can be aggregated to give insight into the underlying decision-making process. We focus on the domain of collective movement, with a particular emphasis on methods that have recently been, or are being, developed to take advantage of simultaneous tracking data. We aim to provide a resource bringing together methodological tools currently available for studying leadership in moving animal groups, as well as to discuss the limitations of current methodologies and suggest productive avenues for future research. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Collective movement ecology’.
Publisher: The Royal Society
Date: 08-2023
DOI: 10.1098/RSOS.231083
No related grants have been discovered for Ariana Strandburg-Peshkin.