Identifying the role that animals play in their social networks

被引：485

作者：

Lusseau, D

Newman, MEJ

机构：

[1] Univ Aberdeen, Sch Biol Sci, Lighthouse Field Stn, Cromarty IV11 8YJ, Ross, Scotland

[2] Univ Michigan, Ctr Study Complex Syst, Ann Arbor, MI 48109 USA

来源：

PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY B-BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES | 2004年 / 271卷

关键词：

bottlenose dolphin; social network; community structure; wildlife management; network topology; information transfer;

D O I：

10.1098/rsbl.2004.0225

中图分类号：

Q [生物科学];

学科分类号：

07 ; 0710 ; 09 ;

摘要：

Techniques recently developed for the analysis of human social networks are applied to the social network of bottlenose dolphins living in Doubtful Sound, New Zealand. We identify communities and sub-communities within the dolphin population and present evidence that sex- and age-related homophily play a role in the formation of clusters of preferred companionship. We also identify brokers who act as links between sub-communities and who appear to be crucial to the social cohesion of the population as a whole. The network is found to be similar to human social networks in some respects but different in some others, such as the level of assortative mixing by degree within the population. This difference elucidates some of the means by which the network forms and evolves.

引用

页码：S477 / S481

页数：5