Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore
Animal sociality, the extent and manner in which conspecifics associate with each other, ultimately affects an individual's survival and reproductive success. It is shaped by the spatiotemporal configuration and composition of the social units (e.g. individual, pair, group) in a population. Her...
Published in: | Animal Behaviour |
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2024
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Online Access: | https://constellation.uqac.ca/id/eprint/9914/1/Heeres_et_al_2024_AnimalBehaviour.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 |
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ftunivquebecchic:oai:constellation.uqac.ca:9914 2024-09-30T14:45:36+00:00 Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore Heeres, Rick W. Leclerc, Martin Frank, Shane Kopatz, Alexander Pelletier, Fanie Zedrosser, Andreas 2024-10 application/pdf https://constellation.uqac.ca/id/eprint/9914/1/Heeres_et_al_2024_AnimalBehaviour.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 en eng https://constellation.uqac.ca/id/eprint/9914/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 https://constellation.uqac.ca/id/eprint/9914/1/Heeres_et_al_2024_AnimalBehaviour.pdf Heeres Rick W., Leclerc Martin, Frank Shane, Kopatz Alexander, Pelletier Fanie et Zedrosser Andreas. (2024). Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore. Animal Behaviour, 216, p. 107-130. cc_by_4 Biologie et autres sciences connexes Ursus arctos brown bears conspecific interaction network analysis nonterritorial social behaviour Sweden Article publié dans une revue avec comité d'évaluation Évalué par les pairs 2024 ftunivquebecchic https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 2024-09-11T00:05:47Z Animal sociality, the extent and manner in which conspecifics associate with each other, ultimately affects an individual's survival and reproductive success. It is shaped by the spatiotemporal configuration and composition of the social units (e.g. individual, pair, group) in a population. Here, we assessed the formation and structure of social networks of a presumed nonsocial species with individual-based movement data of 153 GPS-marked brown bears, Ursus arctos. We explored changes in the frequency of dyadic associations in relation to distinct seasonal patterns (i.e. mating, hyperphagia and hunting seasons) that affect bear behaviour. We found seasonally distinctive frequencies in brown bear associations throughout their active period and that reproduction was the main driver for associations in the population, that is, the highest frequency of associations occurred during the mating season and male–female dyads during the mating season included the majority (73%) of observed associations. We also observed dyadic associations during the hyperphagia and hunting seasons, but found no significant changes in frequency during these seasons. In addition, we found that social structures during both the mating and nonmating periods were nonrandom, that is, dyadic associations occurred more often than expected. Animal sociality is commonly viewed as a classification of social versus nonsocial, but our results suggest that it is rather a dynamic continuum primarily influenced by variation in a species' spatiotemporal configuration (i.e. seasonal movements, social unit structure) and demographic composition (i.e. age, sex). Our results also support the contention that studies focusing on animal sociality should include a sociospatial perspective, as both components are tightly linked. Since sociality can affect individual fitness, and vice versa, advancing the knowledge on assumed ‘solitary’ species is paramount for the conservation and sustainable management of their populations. Article in Journal/Newspaper Ursus arctos Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC): Constellation Animal Behaviour 216 107 130 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC): Constellation |
op_collection_id |
ftunivquebecchic |
language |
English |
topic |
Biologie et autres sciences connexes Ursus arctos brown bears conspecific interaction network analysis nonterritorial social behaviour Sweden |
spellingShingle |
Biologie et autres sciences connexes Ursus arctos brown bears conspecific interaction network analysis nonterritorial social behaviour Sweden Heeres, Rick W. Leclerc, Martin Frank, Shane Kopatz, Alexander Pelletier, Fanie Zedrosser, Andreas Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore |
topic_facet |
Biologie et autres sciences connexes Ursus arctos brown bears conspecific interaction network analysis nonterritorial social behaviour Sweden |
description |
Animal sociality, the extent and manner in which conspecifics associate with each other, ultimately affects an individual's survival and reproductive success. It is shaped by the spatiotemporal configuration and composition of the social units (e.g. individual, pair, group) in a population. Here, we assessed the formation and structure of social networks of a presumed nonsocial species with individual-based movement data of 153 GPS-marked brown bears, Ursus arctos. We explored changes in the frequency of dyadic associations in relation to distinct seasonal patterns (i.e. mating, hyperphagia and hunting seasons) that affect bear behaviour. We found seasonally distinctive frequencies in brown bear associations throughout their active period and that reproduction was the main driver for associations in the population, that is, the highest frequency of associations occurred during the mating season and male–female dyads during the mating season included the majority (73%) of observed associations. We also observed dyadic associations during the hyperphagia and hunting seasons, but found no significant changes in frequency during these seasons. In addition, we found that social structures during both the mating and nonmating periods were nonrandom, that is, dyadic associations occurred more often than expected. Animal sociality is commonly viewed as a classification of social versus nonsocial, but our results suggest that it is rather a dynamic continuum primarily influenced by variation in a species' spatiotemporal configuration (i.e. seasonal movements, social unit structure) and demographic composition (i.e. age, sex). Our results also support the contention that studies focusing on animal sociality should include a sociospatial perspective, as both components are tightly linked. Since sociality can affect individual fitness, and vice versa, advancing the knowledge on assumed ‘solitary’ species is paramount for the conservation and sustainable management of their populations. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Heeres, Rick W. Leclerc, Martin Frank, Shane Kopatz, Alexander Pelletier, Fanie Zedrosser, Andreas |
author_facet |
Heeres, Rick W. Leclerc, Martin Frank, Shane Kopatz, Alexander Pelletier, Fanie Zedrosser, Andreas |
author_sort |
Heeres, Rick W. |
title |
Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore |
title_short |
Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore |
title_full |
Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore |
title_fullStr |
Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore |
title_full_unstemmed |
Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore |
title_sort |
are nonsocial species more social than we think? seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore |
publishDate |
2024 |
url |
https://constellation.uqac.ca/id/eprint/9914/1/Heeres_et_al_2024_AnimalBehaviour.pdf https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 |
genre |
Ursus arctos |
genre_facet |
Ursus arctos |
op_relation |
https://constellation.uqac.ca/id/eprint/9914/ https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 doi:10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 https://constellation.uqac.ca/id/eprint/9914/1/Heeres_et_al_2024_AnimalBehaviour.pdf Heeres Rick W., Leclerc Martin, Frank Shane, Kopatz Alexander, Pelletier Fanie et Zedrosser Andreas. (2024). Are nonsocial species more social than we think? Seasonal patterns in sociality in a solitary terrestrial carnivore. Animal Behaviour, 216, p. 107-130. |
op_rights |
cc_by_4 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.anbehav.2024.07.022 |
container_title |
Animal Behaviour |
container_volume |
216 |
container_start_page |
107 |
op_container_end_page |
130 |
_version_ |
1811646152577122304 |