Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We...Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We used a joint network model- ing approach to examine the interdependencies between two behavioral networks, aggression and status signaling, from four sta- ble and three unstable groups of rhesus macaques in order to identify characteristic patterns of network interdependence in stable groups that are readily distinguishable from unstable groups. Our results showed that the most prominent source of aggres- sion-status network interdependence in stable social groups came from more frequent dyads than expected with opposite direc- tion status-aggression （i.e. A threatens B and B signals acceptance of subordinate status）. In contrast, unstable groups showed a decrease in opposite direction aggression-status dyads （but remained higher than expected） as well as more frequent than ex- pected dyads with bidirectional aggression. These results demonstrate that not only was the stable joint relationship between ag- gression and status networks readily distinguishable from unstable time points, social instability manifested in at least two differ- ent ways. In sum, our joint modeling approach may prove useful in quantifying and monitoring the complex social dynamics of any wild or captive social system, as all social systems are composed of multiple interconnected networks [Current Zoology 61 （1）： 70-84, 2015].展开更多
文摘Social stability in group-living animals is an emergent property which arises from the interaction amongst multiple behavioral networks. However, pinpointing when a social group is at risk of collapse is difficult. We used a joint network model- ing approach to examine the interdependencies between two behavioral networks, aggression and status signaling, from four sta- ble and three unstable groups of rhesus macaques in order to identify characteristic patterns of network interdependence in stable groups that are readily distinguishable from unstable groups. Our results showed that the most prominent source of aggres- sion-status network interdependence in stable social groups came from more frequent dyads than expected with opposite direc- tion status-aggression （i.e. A threatens B and B signals acceptance of subordinate status）. In contrast, unstable groups showed a decrease in opposite direction aggression-status dyads （but remained higher than expected） as well as more frequent than ex- pected dyads with bidirectional aggression. These results demonstrate that not only was the stable joint relationship between ag- gression and status networks readily distinguishable from unstable time points, social instability manifested in at least two differ- ent ways. In sum, our joint modeling approach may prove useful in quantifying and monitoring the complex social dynamics of any wild or captive social system, as all social systems are composed of multiple interconnected networks [Current Zoology 61 （1）： 70-84, 2015].
