The Evolutionary Ecology of Animal Migration

Walker, Thomas J.; Baker, R. Robin

doi:10.2307/3494320

Cited by 231 publications

(340 citation statements)

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“…Aggregations are particularly common during seasonal migration [50] for breeding purposes [51] and environmental factors, such as limiting food or water availability [52] or high predation risk [53], may all contribute to the formation of groups.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision accuracy in complex environments is often maximized by small group sizes

2014

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Individuals in groups, whether composed of humans or other animal species, often make important decisions collectively, including avoiding predators, selecting a direction in which to migrate and electing political leaders. Theoretical and empirical work suggests that collective decisions can be more accurate than individual decisions, a phenomenon known as the 'wisdom of crowds'. In these previous studies, it has been assumed that individuals make independent estimates based on a single environmental cue. In the real world, however, most cues exhibit some spatial and temporal correlation, and consequently, the sensory information that near neighbours detect will also be, to some degree, correlated. Furthermore, it may be rare for an environment to contain only a single informative cue, with multiple cues being the norm. We demonstrate, using two simple models, that taking this natural complexity into account considerably alters the relationship between group size and decision-making accuracy. In only a minority of environments do we observe the typical wisdom of crowds phenomenon (whereby collective accuracy increases monotonically with group size). When the wisdom of crowds is not observed, we find that a finite, and often small, group size maximizes decision accuracy. We reveal that, counterintuitively, it is the noise inherent in these small groups that enhances their accuracy, allowing individuals in such groups to avoid the detrimental effects of correlated information while exploiting the benefits of collective decision-making. Our results demonstrate that the conventional view of the wisdom of crowds may not be informative in complex and realistic environments, and that being in small groups can maximize decision accuracy across many contexts.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Decision accuracy in complex environments is often maximized by small group sizes

2014

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“…Instead, concepts and definitions are required that acknowledge animal behaviour and at least two important dimensions: space and time. More appropriately, Baker (1978) defined habitat specifically as, "the area that provides the resource requirements for a discrete phase of an animal's life". Resource refers to both consumables (e.g.…”

Section: Habitat and Nichementioning

confidence: 99%

Movements of Marine Fish and Decapod Crustaceans: Process, Theory and Application

Pittman

McAlpine

2003

Advances in Marine Biology

222

178

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“…M any ecological and evolutionary processes are inherently spatial, occurring at scales from millimetres to continents 1,2 . As a result, spatial scale can profoundly influence our understanding of these processes, altering conclusions regarding behaviour, population viability, species interactions and evolutionary dynamics [3][4][5][6] .…”

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confidence: 99%

Network modularity reveals critical scales for connectivity in ecology and evolution

et al. 2013

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For nearly a century, biologists have emphasized the profound importance of spatial scale for ecology, evolution and conservation. Nonetheless, objectively identifying critical scales has proven incredibly challenging. Here we extend new techniques from physics and social sciences that estimate modularity on networks to identify critical scales for movement and gene flow in animals. Using four species that vary widely in dispersal ability and include both mark-recapture and population genetic data, we identify significant modularity in three species, two of which cannot be explained by geographic distance alone. Importantly, the inclusion of modularity in connectivity and population viability assessments alters conclusions regarding patch importance to connectivity and suggests higher metapopulation viability than when ignoring this hidden spatial scale. We argue that network modularity reveals critical meso-scales that are probably common in populations, providing a powerful means of identifying fundamental scales for biology and for conservation strategies aimed at recovering imperilled species.

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The Evolutionary Ecology of Animal Migration

Cited by 231 publications

References 0 publications

Decision accuracy in complex environments is often maximized by small group sizes

Decision accuracy in complex environments is often maximized by small group sizes

Movements of Marine Fish and Decapod Crustaceans: Process, Theory and Application

Network modularity reveals critical scales for connectivity in ecology and evolution

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