Group size increases inequality in cooperative behaviour.

ABSTRACT: In cooperatively breeding species where rearing effort is shared among multiple group members, increases in group size typically reduce average per capita contributions to offspring care by all group members (load-lightening) but it is not known how changes in group size affect the distribution of workload among group members. The socioeconomic collective action theory suggests that, in larger groups, the incentives for free riding are stronger, leading to greater inequalities in work division among group members. Here, we use the Gini index to measure inequality at the group level in the contributions of helpers to three different cooperative behaviours (babysitting, pup-provisioning and raised guarding) in groups of varying size in wild Kalahari meerkats (Suricata suricatta). In l

SUBMITTER: Rotics S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7934907 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature