Influence of number of individuals and observations per individual on a model of community structure ...

• Main Authors: Sunga, Julia, Webber, Quinn M. R., Broders, Hugh G.
• Format: Dataset
• Language: English
• Published: Dryad 2021
• Subjects: FOS Biological sciences; Newfoundland
• Online Access: https://dx.doi.org/10.5061/dryad.q83bk3jgn; https://datadryad.org/stash/dataset/doi:10.5061/dryad.q83bk3jgn

Social network analysis is increasingly applied to understand animal groups. However, it is rarely feasible to observe every interaction among all individuals in natural populations. Studies have assessed how missing information affects estimates of individual network positions, but less attention has been paid to metrics that characterize overall network structure such as modularity, clustering coefficient, and density. In cases such as groups displaying fission-fusion dynamics, where subgroups break apart and rejoin in changing conformations, missing information may affect estimates of global network structure differently than in groups with distinctly separated communities due to the influence single individuals can have on the connectivity of the network. Using a bat maternity group showing fission-fusion dynamics, we quantify the effect of missing data on global network measures including community detection. In our system, estimating the number of communities was less reliable than detecting community ... : This dataset contains recordings of little brown myotis (Myotis lucifugus) that were implanted with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags at 11 artificial roost boxes in Salmonier Nature Park, Newfoundland in 2016. Data were filtered such that only individuals with at least 40 observations over the course of the summer were included. For individuals with more than 40 observations, 40 observations were randomly selected to create a balanced network. All animal handling protocol was approved by the animal care committee of Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Nova Scotia (AUP #16-12). Wildlife scientific research permits were also obtained from the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, Department of Fisheries and Land Resources, Forestry and Wildlife Branch (# WLR2016-12). ...