Life history stage explains behavior in a social network before and during the early breeding season in a cooperatively breeding bird.

ABSTRACT: In species with stage-structured populations selection pressures may vary between different life history stages and result in stage-specific behaviors. We use life history stage to explain variation in the pre and early breeding season social behavior of a cooperatively breeding bird, the Florida scrub-jay (Aphelocoma coerulescens) using social network analysis. Life history stage explains much of the variation we observed in social network position. These differences are consistent with nearly 50 years of natural history observations and generally conform to a priori predictions about how individuals in different stages should behave to maximize their individual fitness. Where the results from the social network analysis differ from the a priori predictions suggest th

SUBMITTER: Tringali A 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7020825 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature