Patterns of sex-biased dispersal are consistent with social and ecological constraints in a group-living cichlid fish

Bose, Aneesh P. H.; Koch, Lukas; Dabernig-Heinz, Johanna; Grimm, Jacqueline; Sefc, Kristina M.; Jordan, Alex

doi:10.1186/s12862-022-01980-4

Cited by 4 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 89 publications

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“…This is because in these systems, the costs and benefits of either strategy can be scrutinized without confounding factors that have been shown to affect interspecific comparisons, e.g., mating system variation or environmental stochasticity ( 45 ). Specifically, in cooperatively breeding species, sex-biased dispersal skews within-group relatedness ( 46 ), resulting in sex differences in the potential to reap indirect fitness benefits, which thus affects the payoffs of cooperative behavior ( 22 , 47 ). Sex-specific direct fitness benefits of philopatry or dispersal may also result from differential opportunities for own reproduction and/or resource inheritance ( 16 , 42 ), which, in turn, may cause sex-specific cooperation propensity in a pay-to-stay scenario ( 48 , 49 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philopatry yields higher fitness than dispersal in a cooperative breeder with sex-specific life history trajectories

et al. 2023

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Social evolution is tightly linked to dispersal decisions, but the ecological and social factors selecting for philopatry or dispersal often remain obscure. Elucidating selection mechanisms underlying alternative life histories requires measurement of fitness effects in the wild. We report on a long-term field study of 496 individually marked cooperatively breeding fish, showing that philopatry is beneficial as it increases breeding tenure and lifetime reproductive success in both sexes. Dispersers predominantly join established groups and end up in smaller groups when they ascend to dominance. Life history trajectories are sex specific, with males growing faster, dying earlier, and dispersing more, whereas females more likely inherit a breeding position. Increased male dispersal does not seem to reflect an adaptive preference but rather sex-specific differences in intrasexual competition. Cooperative groups may thus be maintained because of inherent benefits of philopatry, of which females seem to get the greater share in social cichlids.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Philopatry yields higher fitness than dispersal in a cooperative breeder with sex-specific life history trajectories

et al. 2023

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“…Group size is a key component of social evolution [9,11,13,15,17,[28][29][30][31]. Building on existing models of kinship dynamics, we generated new insights into how local group size influences selection for social traits in dynamic yet locally varying kinship environments.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Group size modulates kinship dynamics and selection on social traits

He,

Weiss,

Ellis

et al. 2023

Preprint

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The mean relatedness of an individual to others in its social group may change with age. Such kinship dynamics, which are expected to influence sex- and age-specific social behaviours, are sensitive to demography. Existing models of kinship dynamics, however, have focused chiefly on the influences of population-level demographic parameters (e.g., sex-specific dispersal rate and mating pattern). Here, we extend these models to explore the effects of local group size on kinship dynamics and the resulting patterns of selection for sex- and age-specific helping and harming. We show that individuals’ average relatedness to others is higher in smaller than larger groups, and consequently, selective pressure for helping or harming is generally stronger in smaller than larger groups. Moreover, relatedness changes faster with age in smaller groups, particularly at younger ages. These patterns favour more extreme social traits in smaller groups and especially so at earlier life history stages. In particular we highlight that, while social systems characterized by bi-sexual philopatry with non-local mating (e.g., whales) are known to favour a shift from more helpful to more harmful behaviour as females age — a trend that has been invoked to explain the evolution of menopause and post-reproductive helping — the timing of this shift is predicted to be sensitive to local group size, potentially favouring earlier female reproductive cessation in smaller groups. Our study generates new insights into the effects of local group properties on kinship dynamics, and suggests that such effects might also help to explain widespread variation in age-linked social traits, such as the timing of menopause in social mammals.

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“…The notion that competition among kin can work against the benefits of assisting kin is often applied during theoretical examinations of the evolution of indiscriminate altruism in viscous populations, but it can also be applicable in cases where kin are recognized and discriminated ( Johnstone and Cant 2008 ). A sex difference in how related individuals are to their competitors may arise for example through sex-biased dispersal, which causes the more philopatric sex to be more related to their nearby same-sex social partners ( Johnstone and Cant 2008 ; Bose, Koch, et al 2022 ). Systems where group members vary in relatedness, have stable spatial arrangements, and display conspicuous contest behaviors are therefore ideal for empirically examining how relatedness influences within-group social dynamics.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We examined whether individuals reduce within-group competition with their kin by modulating aggression toward group members according to their relatedness and/or by maintaining physical separation with their kin. Neolamprologus multifasciatus is endemic to Lake Tanganyika, East Africa, and lives in groups that can consist of multiple males, females, and juveniles, with the largest male per group being socially dominant ( Kohler 1998 ; Bose, Koch, et al 2022 ; Bose, Dabernig-Heinz, et al 2022 ). Groups contain a mixture of related and unrelated individuals, though female-biased dispersal in this system means that, on average, males are more related to other males in their groups than females are to each other ( Bose, Koch, et al 2022 ; Bose, Dabernig-Heinz, et al 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Neolamprologus multifasciatus is endemic to Lake Tanganyika, East Africa, and lives in groups that can consist of multiple males, females, and juveniles, with the largest male per group being socially dominant ( Kohler 1998 ; Bose, Koch, et al 2022 ; Bose, Dabernig-Heinz, et al 2022 ). Groups contain a mixture of related and unrelated individuals, though female-biased dispersal in this system means that, on average, males are more related to other males in their groups than females are to each other ( Bose, Koch, et al 2022 ; Bose, Dabernig-Heinz, et al 2022 ). Reproductive skew is high among males, with the dominant male acquiring nearly all the reproduction that occurs in his group ( Bose, Dabernig-Heinz, et al 2022 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Aggression and spatial positioning of kin and non-kin fish in social groups

Bose,

Dabernig-Heinz,

Oberkofler

et al. 2023

Behavioral Ecology

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Group-living animals are faced with the challenge of sharing space and local resources amongst group members who may be either relatives or non-relatives. Individuals may reduce the inclusive fitness costs they incur from competing with relatives by either reducing their levels of aggression toward kin, or by maintaining physical separation between kin. In this field study, we used the group-living cichlid Neolamprologus multifasciatus to examine whether within-group aggression is reduced among group members that are kin, and whether kin occupy different regions of their group’s territory to reduce kin competition over space and local resources. We determined the kinship relationships among cohabiting adults via microsatellite genotyping and then combined these with spatial and behavioral analyses of groups in the wild. We found that aggressive contests between group members declined in frequency with spatial separation between their shelters. Female kin did not engage in aggressive contests with one another, whereas non-kin females did, despite the fact these females lived at similar distances from one another on their groups’ territories. Contests within male–male and male–female dyads did not clearly correlate with kinship. Non-kin male-male and male–female dyads lived at more variable distances from one another on their territories than their corresponding kin dyads. Together, our study indicates that contests among group members can be mediated by relatedness in a sex-dependent manner. We also suggest that spatial relationships can play an important role in determining the extent to which group members compete with one another.

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Patterns of sex-biased dispersal are consistent with social and ecological constraints in a group-living cichlid fish

Cited by 4 publications

References 89 publications

Philopatry yields higher fitness than dispersal in a cooperative breeder with sex-specific life history trajectories

Philopatry yields higher fitness than dispersal in a cooperative breeder with sex-specific life history trajectories

Group size modulates kinship dynamics and selection on social traits

Aggression and spatial positioning of kin and non-kin fish in social groups

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