Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, UK.
Centre for Research in Animal Behaviour, College of Life & Environmental Science, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Zoo Biol. 2021 Nov;40(6):493-502. doi: 10.1002/zoo.21638. Epub 2021 Jul 5.
Social networks research using non-human animals has grown over the past decade, utilizing a wide range of species to answer an array of pure and applied questions. Network approaches have relevance to conservation, evaluating social influences on fecundity, health, fitness and longevity. While the application of network approaches to in situ populations with conservation concern appears in published literature, the degree to which ex situ and zoo-housed populations are the focus of "social networks for conservation research" is limited. Captive environments provide scientists with an ability to understand the social behavior of species that may be hard to observe consistently in the wild. This paper evaluates the scope of network research involving ex situ populations, analyzing output from 2010 to 2019 to determine trends in questions and subjects using ex situ populations. We show that only 8.2% of ex situ social network analysis (SNA) implications are of conservation-focus, apparent in papers relating to birds, carnivores, bats, primates, reptiles, and ungulates. Husbandry and welfare questions predominate in ex situ network research, but over half of these papers have nonpractical application (basic science). The chance of a citation for a basic science paper was 95.4% more than for a conservation-based paper. For taxonomic groups, primate-focused papers had the most citations. The focus of ex situ conservation-based networks research may be driven by the needs of conservation programs (e.g., population recovery outcomes) or by a need to evaluate the efficacy of ex situ conservation goals. We evaluate our findings considering the IUCN's One Plan Approach to conservation to show how in situ and ex situ network research is applicable to global conservation efforts. We have identified that there is a lack of application and evaluation of SNA to wildlife conservation. We highlight future areas of research in zoos and hope to stimulate discussion and collaboration between relevant parties.
过去十年，利用广泛的物种来回答一系列基础和应用问题的非人类动物社会网络研究得到了发展。网络方法与保护有关，可用于评估对繁殖力、健康、适应度和寿命的社会影响。虽然将网络方法应用于具有保护意义的原地种群的研究已发表在文献中，但将圈养种群和动物园饲养种群作为“保护研究的社会网络”重点的程度有限。圈养环境使科学家能够了解某些物种的社会行为，而这些行为在野外可能难以持续观察。本文评估了涉及圈养种群的网络研究的范围，分析了 2010 年至 2019 年的研究结果，以确定使用圈养种群的问题和主题的趋势。我们发现，只有 8.2%的圈养社会网络分析（SNA）结果具有保护重点，这在与鸟类、食肉动物、蝙蝠、灵长类动物、爬行动物和有蹄类动物有关的论文中表现明显。圈养动物网络研究主要关注饲养和福利问题，但其中一半以上的论文没有实际应用（基础科学）。基础科学论文获得引用的可能性比基于保护的论文高 95.4%。在分类群方面，以灵长类动物为重点的论文获得的引用最多。圈养保护为重点的网络研究的重点可能是由保护计划的需求（例如，种群恢复结果）或评估圈养保护目标的效果的需求驱动的。我们在考虑到 IUCN 的“一个计划”保护方法的情况下评估了我们的发现，以展示原地和圈养网络研究如何适用于全球保护工作。我们已经发现，将 SNA 应用于野生动物保护的情况很少，也很少进行评估。我们强调了动物园未来的研究领域，并希望激发相关方之间的讨论和合作。
