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Animal social networks: an introduction

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Abstract

Network analysis has a long history in the mathematical and social sciences and the aim of this introduction is to provide a brief overview of the potential that it holds for the study of animal behaviour. One of the most attractive features of the network paradigm is that it provides a single conceptual framework with which we can study the social organisation of animals at all levels (individual, dyad, group, population) and for all types of interaction (aggressive, cooperative, sexual etc.). Graphical tools allow a visual inspection of networks which often helps inspire ideas for testable hypotheses. Network analysis itself provides a multitude of novel statistical tools that can be used to characterise social patterns in animal populations. Among the important insights that networks have facilitated is that indirect social connections matter. Interactions between individuals generate a social environment at the population level which in turn selects for behavioural strategies at the individual level. A social network is often a perfect means by which to represent heterogeneous relationships in a population. Probing the biological drivers for these heterogeneities, often as a function of time, forms the basis of many of the current uses of network analysis in the behavioural sciences. This special issue on social networks brings together a diverse group of practitioners whose study systems range from social insects over reptiles to birds, cetaceans, ungulates and primates in order to illustrate the wide-ranging applications of network analysis.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank everyone who took part in the IEC symposium on Animal Social Networks in Halifax, Nova Scotia, August 2007, as well as Darren Croft, David McDonald and Dhruba Naug for stimulating discussions. JK acknowledges financial support from the NERC (NE/D011035/1) and the EPSRC (GR/T11241/01(P)).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Jens Krause

  2. Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, AB24 2TZ, UK

    David Lusseau

  3. Department of Physics, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK

    Richard James

Authors
  1. Jens Krause
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  2. David Lusseau
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  3. Richard James
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jens Krause.

Additional information

Communicated by T. Czeschlik

This contribution is part of the special issue “Social Networks: new perspectives” (Guest Editors: J. Krause, D. Lusseau and R. James).

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Krause, J., Lusseau, D. & James, R. Animal social networks: an introduction. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 63, 967–973 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-009-0747-0

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