Collective decision-making appears more egalitarian in populations where group fission costs are higher.

ABSTRACT: Collective decision-making is predicted to be more egalitarian in conditions where the costs of group fission are higher. Here, we ask whether Trinidadian guppies (Poecilia reticulata) living in high or low predation environments, and thereby facing differential group fission costs, make collective decisions in line with this prediction. Using a classic decision-making scenario, we found that fish from high predation environments switched their positions within groups more frequently than fish from low predation environments. Because the relative positions individuals adopt in moving groups can influence their contribution towards group decisions, increased positional switching appears to support the prediction of more evenly distributed decision-making in populations where group fi

SUBMITTER: Herbert-Read JE 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6936019 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature