Costs and benefits as a function of group size: Experiments on a swarming mysid Paramesopodopsis rufa Fenton

1997 ◽  
pp. 194-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
David A. Ritz
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Costs And Benefits

scholarly journals Costs and benefits of group living in primates: an energetic perspective

2017 ◽  
Vol 372 (1727) ◽  
pp. 20160239 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Catherine Markham ◽  
Laurence R. Gesquiere
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Adaptive Significance ◽  
Physiological Measures ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Energetic Stress ◽  
Metabolic States ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Changes ◽  
Energetic Balance

Group size is a fundamental component of sociality, and has important consequences for an individual's fitness as well as the collective and cooperative behaviours of the group as a whole. This review focuses on how the costs and benefits of group living vary in female primates as a function of group size, with a particular emphasis on how competition within and between groups affects an individual's energetic balance. Because the repercussions of chronic energetic stress can lower an animal's fitness, identifying the predictors of energetic stress has important implications for understanding variation in survivorship and reproductive success within and between populations. Notably, we extend previous literature on this topic by discussing three physiological measures of energetic balance—glucocorticoids, c-peptides and thyroid hormones. Because these hormones can provide clear signals of metabolic states and processes, they present an important complement to field studies of spatial and temporal changes in food availability. We anticipate that their further application will play a crucial role in elucidating the adaptive significance of group size in different social and ecological contexts. This article is part of the themed issue ‘Physiological determinants of social behaviour in animals'.

scholarly journals Anti-Predator Vigilance as an Indicator of the Costs and Benefits of Supplemental Feeding in Newly Released ‘Alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis)

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather N. Lee ◽  
Alison L. Greggor ◽  
Bryce Masuda ◽  
Ronald R. Swaisgood
Keyword(s):  
Predation Risk ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Conservation Strategy ◽  
Food Sources ◽  
Supplemental Feeding ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Additional Food ◽  
Dynamic Decisions ◽  
Feeder Design ◽  
Over Time

Although supplemental feeding is commonly used as a conservation strategy during animal translocations, it comes with a number of pros and cons which can be hard to quantify. Providing additional food resources may lead to improved physical health, survivorship, and reproduction. However, offering predictable food sources could make individuals more conspicuous to predators and less aware of their surroundings, disrupting their natural predator-prey dynamic. Decisions such as release cohort size and supplemental feeder design could influence the balance of these costs and benefits, depending on how animals behave in the face of predation risk and static food sources. Additionally, animals released to the wild from long term human care must balance foraging and predation risk while adjusting to a novel environment. To help conservation managers make informed decisions in light of these potential costs, we studied the behavior of a cohort of 11 conservation-bred ‘alalā (Corvus hawaiiensis) at supplemental feeding stations after release into the wild. Vigilance, foraging behavior and social group size was quantified via 1,320 trail camera videos of ‘alalā over the span of 12 months. We found that vigilance increased over time since release, suggesting that ‘alalā learn and adjust to their novel surroundings. Both vigilance and eating decreased with group size, indicating that although conspecifics may share the burden of scanning for threats, they also increase competition for food. We also found that the design of the feeder may have limited birds' abilities to express anti-predator behavior since less vigilance was observed in individuals that manipulated the feeder. Yet, birds may have been able to offset these costs since they increasingly scrounged for food scraps next to the feeder as time progressed. We discuss how changes to behavior over time, social interactions, and feeder design should all be considered when planning supplemental feeding as part of wildlife translocations.

scholarly journals Skew in ovarian activation depends on domicile size in a facultatively social thrips

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
James DJ Gilbert ◽  
Alice Wells ◽  
Stephen J Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Group Formation ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Reproductive Skew ◽  
Behavioural Ecology ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Reproductive Competition ◽  
Ovarian Activation ◽  
Per Capita ◽  
Breeding Resources

Costs and benefits of group living are a fundamental topic in behavioural ecology. Resource availability affects individuals' breeding prospects alone and in groups, as well as how reproduction is distributed within groups ("reproductive skew"). Here, we provide correlational evidence in facultatively social thrips that breeding resources are associated with (1) whether solitary or social living is favoured, and (2) the degree of ovarian skew.Dunatothrips aneurae(Thysanoptera, Phlaeothripidae) cooperatively build silk "domiciles" on Australian acacias, feeding exclusively from internal phyllode surfaces. Per capita productivity scaled differently with group size depending on domicile volume - females in small domiciles did better alone than in groups, whereas in large domiciles single and group-nesting females did equally well. Ovarian dissections revealed that in small domiciles some females were nonreproductive, indicating ovarian (i.e. reproductive) skew. Skew increased as domicile size decreased and group size increased. Breeders had smaller oocyte volume in smaller domiciles, especially those containing nonreproductives. These findings suggest group formation and reproductive skew inD. aneuraemay be influenced by reproductive competition for breeding resources. Nonreproductive females in small domiciles may be reproductively suppressed, subfertile, or waiting to reproduce. We speculate they may avoid eviction by contributing as "helpers" to domicile maintenance.

Determinants of multi-destination travel in Vietnam: a rational choice perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hao Thi Kim Do ◽  
Dung Phuong Hoang ◽  
Thuy Thu Pham
Keyword(s):  
Rational Choice ◽  
Conceptual Model ◽  
Group Size ◽  
Rational Choice Theory ◽  
Choice Theory ◽  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Perceived Benefits ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Selection Of

Purpose This paper aims to examine the factors affecting travelers’ decision to select more than one destination in their trips. Drawn from the rational choice theory, this study posits that the selection of multi-destination tours, as a rational choice, is determined by the travelers’ perception of costs and benefits associated with that choice. Design/methodology/approach The conceptual model was developed from both an exploratory research with in-depth interview and the literature. A logistic regression model linking four explanatory variables representing perceived benefits and costs of multi-destination option with travelers’ choice of multi-destination trips. The conceptual model is controlled for diversity of travel purposes; tour group size; type of travel arrangement and travelers’ demographic characteristics while the research context of multi-destination travel within Phu Yen – Dak Lak – Gia Lai – Binh Dinh helps control for the characteristics of the destination set (spatial proximity and traffic convenience). The conceptual model was tested based on data collected from 1,361 Vietnamese travelers who have ever visited at least one of the four provinces. Findings This study finds that perceived benefits in terms of diversifying tourism experiences and perceived costs of traveling in multiple places compared to taking single trips represent the most significant drivers for tourists’ selection of multi-destination tours. In addition, the diversity of travel purposes and tour group size have a positive and significant impact on the demand for traveling more than one destination in a trip. Moreover, the richer, older and married travelers have a significantly higher tendency to select multi-destination packages. Practical implications The research findings provide important strategic implications for promoting multi-destination trips, thereby, maximizing economic benefits from tourism. Originality/value While multi-destination travel patterns have been examined empirically in individual studies sporadically without a common theoretical background, this research makes some progress on this front by using the rational choice theory to connect the relative contributions of those factors to the travelers’ choice of multi-destination trips. Specifically, this study provides a new perspective in explaining the selection of multi-destination trips – from tourists’ perceptions about costs and benefits associated with that choice.

Costs and benefits of group living in primates: group size effects on behaviour and demography

2008 ◽  
Vol 76 (4) ◽  
pp. 1235-1247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bonaventura Majolo ◽  
Aurora de Bortoli Vizioli ◽  
Gabriele Schino
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Size Effects ◽  
Group Living ◽  
Costs And Benefits

scholarly journals Interindividual spacing affects the finder’s share in ring-tailed coatis (Nasua nasua)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ben T Hirsch ◽  
Erica Malpass ◽  
Yamil E Di Blanco
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Foraging Strategy ◽  
Foraging Strategies ◽  
Intake Rate ◽  
Foraging Success ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Nasua Nasua ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Foraging Tactics ◽  
Food Intake Rate

Abstract Social foraging models are often used to explain how group size can affect an individual’s food intake rate and foraging strategies. The proportion of food eaten before the arrival of conspecifics, the finder’s share, is hypothesized to play a major role in shaping group geometry, foraging strategy, and feeding competition. The variables that affect the finder’s share in ring-tailed coatis were tested using a series of food trials. The number of grapes in the food trials had a strong negative effect on the finder’s share and the probability that the finder was joined. The effect of group size on the finder’s share and foraging success was not straightforward and was mediated by sociospatial factors. The finder’s share increased when the time to arrival of the next individual was longer, the group was more spread out, and the finder was in the back of the group. Similarly, the total amount of food eaten at a trial was higher when more grapes were placed, arrival time was longer, and the number of joiners was smaller. Individuals at the front edge of the group found far more food trials, but foraging success was higher at the back of the group where there were fewer conspecifics to join them. This study highlights the importance of social spacing strategies and group geometry on animal foraging tactics and the costs and benefits of sociality.

The group size – flight distance relationship in water striders (Gerris remigis)

1987 ◽  
Vol 65 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-226 ◽  
Author(s):  
L. M. Dill ◽  
R. C. Ydenberg
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Flight Distance ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Predator Detection ◽  
Water Striders ◽  
First Instar ◽  
Distance Relationship ◽  
Risk Dilution ◽  
Flight Initiation

When food availability is constant, the distance from which first instar water striders (Gerris remigis Say) initiate escape from approaching (potentially cannibalistic) adults initially rises and then falls with increases in group size. This result cannot be explained by the currently accepted many-eyes hypothesis, which predicts a monotonically increasing relationship between flight initiation distance and group size, resulting from the increased probability of predator detection by larger groups. The results are consistent with an alternative hypothesis, according to which the preferred flight distance results from a trade-off between the costs and benefits of flight and declines with increasing group size due to risk dilution. The gerrids are constrained from achieving their preferred flight distance when tested as individuals, and the adult is able to approach more closely before being detected.

Using the research on intergroup conflict in nonhuman animals to help inform patterns of human intergroup conflict

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda R. Ridley ◽  
Melanie O. Mirville
Keyword(s):  
Large Body ◽  
Nonhuman Animal ◽  
Intergroup Conflict ◽  
Costs And Benefits ◽  
Animal Groups ◽  
Interesting Article ◽  
Nonhuman Animals

Abstract There is a large body of research on conflict in nonhuman animal groups that measures the costs and benefits of intergroup conflict, and we suggest that much of this evidence is missing from De Dreu and Gross's interesting article. It is a shame this work has been missed, because it provides evidence for interesting ideas put forward in the article.

An ecological basis for large group size in Colobus angolensis in the Nyungwe Forest, Rwanda

2001 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-92 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cheryl Fimbel ◽  
Amy Vedder ◽  
Ellen Dierenfeld ◽  
Felix Mulindahabi
Keyword(s):  
Group Size ◽  
Large Group ◽  
Colobus Angolensis ◽  
Ecological Basis
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