TY - JOUR
T1 - Unraveling fission-fusion dynamics
T2 - How subgroup properties and dyadic interactions influence individual decisions
AU - Ramos-Fernández, Gabriel
AU - Morales, Juan M.
N1 - Funding Information:
Acknowledgments We would like to thank Braulio Pinacho-Guendulain for field data collection; Eulogio Canul, Macedonio Canul, Augusto Canul, and Juan Canul for valuable assistance in the field; Filippo Aureli, Colleen M. Schaffner, and Laura G. Vick for sharing the management of the long-term project and two anonymous reviewers for their useful comments on a previous version of this manuscript. Funding for fieldwork was provided by CONACYT (grants J51278 and 157656) and Instituto Politécnico Nacional. Data analysis was conducted during a sabbatical stay by GRF at INIBIOMA-CONICET and the Universidad Nacional del Comahue, supported by CONACYT grant 186678. Funding for JMM was provided by CONICET and PICT 20110790.
PY - 2014/8
Y1 - 2014/8
N2 - Many species show fission-fusion group dynamics because it has clear advantages for flexibly exploiting heterogeneous environments. However, the mechanisms by which these dynamics arise are not well known. We used a hierarchical Bayesian model to disentangle the different influences on spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) individual fissions and fusions, including the three dimensions of fission-fusion dynamics (subgroup size, dispersion, and composition). Furthermore, we considered the influences of other individuals also leaving or joining a subgroup at the same time. We found that the most important influence on individual fissions and fusions is whether other individuals are also doing the same. Subgroup size and dispersion did not have clear effects on the probability that an individual fissioned or fusioned, while individuals tended to leave subgroups that were biased toward the opposite sex and to join subgroups that were biased toward their own sex. The networks constructed by the inter-individual influences during fissions and fusions were cohesive and did not show assortativity by sex or by degree. Individuals had a similar degree in both networks and each was influenced by a different set of individuals, suggesting a high fluidity in the social networks. We suggest that these networks reflect the way in which information about the environment flows as individuals follow one another during fissions and fusions.
AB - Many species show fission-fusion group dynamics because it has clear advantages for flexibly exploiting heterogeneous environments. However, the mechanisms by which these dynamics arise are not well known. We used a hierarchical Bayesian model to disentangle the different influences on spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) individual fissions and fusions, including the three dimensions of fission-fusion dynamics (subgroup size, dispersion, and composition). Furthermore, we considered the influences of other individuals also leaving or joining a subgroup at the same time. We found that the most important influence on individual fissions and fusions is whether other individuals are also doing the same. Subgroup size and dispersion did not have clear effects on the probability that an individual fissioned or fusioned, while individuals tended to leave subgroups that were biased toward the opposite sex and to join subgroups that were biased toward their own sex. The networks constructed by the inter-individual influences during fissions and fusions were cohesive and did not show assortativity by sex or by degree. Individuals had a similar degree in both networks and each was influenced by a different set of individuals, suggesting a high fluidity in the social networks. We suggest that these networks reflect the way in which information about the environment flows as individuals follow one another during fissions and fusions.
KW - Collective decision-making
KW - Hierarchical Bayesian models
KW - Information sharing
KW - Social networks
KW - Spider monkeys
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84904543520&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s00265-014-1733-8
DO - 10.1007/s00265-014-1733-8
M3 - Artículo
SN - 0340-5443
VL - 68
SP - 1225
EP - 1235
JO - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
JF - Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology
IS - 8
ER -