Females go where the food is: does the socio-ecological model explain variation in social organisation of solitary foragers?

Dammhahn, Melanie; Kappeler, Peter M.

doi:10.1007/s00265-009-0737-2

Cited by 56 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 82 publications

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“…Beginning in August 2002, I and Malagasy field assistants had regularly (re)captured and marked individuals of a population of 50-150 individuals of M. murinus at a time (for details, see [22,23]). Capture was performed with Sherman live traps in three consecutive nights about once per month during the non-wet season, and five to nine times per year in a study area of 25 ha.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are personality differences in a small iteroparous mammal maintained by a life-history trade-off?

2012

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Despite increasing interest, animal personality is still a puzzling phenomenon. Several theoretical models have been proposed to explain intraindividual consistency and interindividual variation in behaviour, which have been primarily supported by qualitative data and simulations. Using an empirical approach, I tested predictions of one main life-history hypothesis, which posits that consistent individual differences in behaviour are favoured by a trade-off between current and future reproduction. Data on life-history were collected for individuals of a natural population of grey mouse lemurs (Microcebus murinus). Using open-field and novel-object tests, I quantified variation in activity, exploration and boldness for 117 individuals over 3 years. I found systematic variation in boldness between individuals of different residual reproductive value. Young males with low current but high expected future fitness were less bold than older males with high current fecundity, and males might increase in boldness with age. Females have low variation in assets and in boldness with age. Body condition was not related to boldness and only explained marginal variation in exploration. Overall, these data indicate that a trade-off between current and future reproduction might maintain personality variation in mouse lemurs, and thus provide empirical support of this life-history trade-off hypothesis.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Are personality differences in a small iteroparous mammal maintained by a life-history trade-off?

2012

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“…One example is Microcebus , which currently consists of 19 described species [Mittermeier et al, 2010;Radespiel et al, 2012]. Detailed observational studies on the social organisation of mouse lemurs have been conducted on only 4 of these species, all of which inhabit the western lowland dry forest habitats ( Microcebus murinus [Radespiel, 2000;Kappeler, 2002, 2006;Dammhahn and Kappeler, 2009]; M. ravelobensis [Weidt et al, 2004]; M. berthae Kappeler, 2005, 2009]; M. griseorufus [Génin, 2008]). Previous studies described mouse lemurs as solitary foragers, forming sleeping associations during the daytime, which appears to be the basic social unit in these species.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First Insights into the Social Organisation of Goodman’s Mouse Lemur (Microcebus lehilahytsara) – Testing Predictions from Socio-Ecological Hypotheses in the Masoala Hall of Zurich Zoo

Jürges

Kitzler²,

Zingg³

et al. 2013

IJFP

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Following current socio-ecological hypotheses, the social organisation of a species is mainly determined by resource quality and distribution. In the case of Microcebus spp., a taxon-specific socio-ecological model was formulated earlier to explain their variable social organisation. The aim of this study was to test predictions from this model in Goodman’s mouse lemur based on a data set from animals living in the semi-free colony of Zurich Zoo. During a 2-month study, we observed 5 females and 5 males using radiotelemetry. We collected data on space use and social behaviour, on sleeping sites and on sleeping group composition. Predictions were only partly confirmed. As expected, Goodman’s mouse lemurs were solitary foragers with an increased level of sociality due to crowding effects at the feeding stations. In contrast to the prediction, females and males formed unisexual sleeping groups, which were stable in females and of a fission-fusion type in males. Whereas the formation of sleeping groups by both sexes may be triggered by thermoregulatory benefits, the formation of unisexual sleeping groups may result from divergent interests of the sexes. We conclude that the existing model for the evolution of mouse lemur social organisation needs to be refined.

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“…Sex-specific features limit the fitness of females and males resulting from intersexual differences in parental investment (Trivers, 1972). An assumption of the SEM is that the spatio-temporal scattering of females is determined predominately by the distribution of habitat resources and risks (Dammhahn and Kappeler, 2009). As the dispersive sex in mammals, males seek out reproductively receptive females (Altmann, 1990), so their juxtaposition should be based primarily on the spatial arrangement of those females (Clutton-Brock, 1989).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Within the constructs of the SEM, no thorough attempt has been made to explain variation in general regarding the social systems of solitary species (Dammhahn and Kappeler, 2009); furthermore, it has gone unnoticed as an applied framework for studying direct disease transmission in small mammals, like hantaviruses in rodents. Hantavirus researchers also have overlooked the importance of females and their impact on male movements and virus dissemination.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our understanding of the factors that maintain the virus in wild populations thus hinges upon a better understanding of the social and environmental forces that drive potential hosts together or apart. The socio-ecological model (SEM; Crook and Gartlan, 1966) provides a theoretical link between environmental factors and characteristics of social systems (Emlen and Oring, 1977), allowing for predictions about associations as functions of resource distributions, types of competition and social organizations, relationships and structure (van Schaik and Kappeler, 2006;Dammhahn and Kappeler, 2009). Sex-specific features limit the fitness of females and males resulting from intersexual differences in parental investment (Trivers, 1972).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Socio-ecology of the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) and the spatio-temporal distribution of Bayou virus in coastal Texas

et al. 2013

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Abstract. Along the southeastern coast of the United States of America (USA), the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) is the primary host for the hantavirus genotype Bayou. According to the socio-ecological model for a territorial, polygamous species, females should be distributed across space and time by habitat resources and predation risks, whereas males should space themselves according to the degree of female aggregation and reproductive synchrony. To investigate how females affect the male-male transmission paradigm of Bayou virus, rodents were captured, marked, released, and re-captured in two macrohabitat types across a 30-month period. Microhabitat cover variables were quantified around the individual trap stations. A geodatabase was created from habitat and rodent capture data and analysed in a geographical information system. The ratio of breeding to non-breeding females was ~1:1, with breeding females overly dispersed and non-breeding females randomly dispersed. Spatial analyses revealed both macro-and microhabitat preferences in females. Compared to sero-negatives, higher proportions of seropositive adult males were found consistently within closer proximities to breeding females but not to non-breeding females, indicating that male locations were not driven simply by habitat selection. Activities to acquire dispersed receptive females could be an important driver of Bayou virus transmission among male hosts. To date, socio-ecological theory has received little attention as an investigative framework for studying pathogen dynamics in small, solitary mammals. Herein, we describe an interdisciplinary effort providing a novel approach to elucidate the complexity of hantavirus trafficking and maintenance in rodent populations of a coastal marsh ecosystem.

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Females go where the food is: does the socio-ecological model explain variation in social organisation of solitary foragers?

Cited by 56 publications

References 82 publications

Are personality differences in a small iteroparous mammal maintained by a life-history trade-off?

Are personality differences in a small iteroparous mammal maintained by a life-history trade-off?

First Insights into the Social Organisation of Goodman’s Mouse Lemur (Microcebus lehilahytsara) – Testing Predictions from Socio-Ecological Hypotheses in the Masoala Hall of Zurich Zoo

Socio-ecology of the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) and the spatio-temporal distribution of Bayou virus in coastal Texas

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