Inferring influence and leadership in moving animal groups.

ABSTRACT: Collective decision-making is a daily occurrence in the lives of many group-living animals, and can have critical consequences for the fitness of individuals. Understanding how decisions are reached, including who has influence and the mechanisms by which information and preferences are integrated, has posed a fundamental challenge. Here, we provide a methodological framework for studying influence and leadership in groups. We propose that individuals have influence if their actions result in some behavioural change among their group-mates, and are leaders if they consistently influence others. We highlight three components of influence (influence instances, total influence and consistency of influence), which can be assessed at two levels (individual-to-individual and indivi

SUBMITTER: Strandburg-Peshkin A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5882976 | biostudies-literature | 2018 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature