Am Nat. 2022 Jun;199(6):776-788. doi: 10.1086/719182. Epub 2022 Apr 20.
AbstractThe emergence of animal societies offers unsolved problems for both evolutionary and ecological studies. Social spiders are especially well suited to address this problem given their multiple independent origins and distinct geographic distribution. On the basis of long-term research on the spider genus , we developed a spatial model that re-creates observed macroecological patterns in the distribution of social and subsocial spiders. We show that parallel gradients of increasing insect size and disturbance (rain, predation) with proximity to the lowland tropical rain forest would explain why social species are concentrated in the lowland wet tropics but absent from higher elevations and latitudes. The model further shows that disturbance, which disproportionately affects small colonies, not only creates conditions that require group living but also tempers the dynamics of large social groups. Similarly simple underlying processes, albeit with different players on a somewhat different stage, may explain the diversity of other social systems.
摘要动物社会的出现为进化和生态学研究提出了尚未解决的问题。社会蜘蛛具有多个独立起源和独特的地理分布，特别适合解决这个问题。基于对蜘蛛属的长期研究，我们开发了一个空间模型，该模型再现了观察到的社会和亚社会蜘蛛分布的宏观生态模式。我们表明，随着靠近低地热带雨林，昆虫大小和干扰（降雨、捕食）的平行梯度增加，将解释为什么社会物种集中在低地湿润热带地区，而不在高海拔和高纬度地区。该模型还表明，干扰（不成比例地影响小群体）不仅创造了需要群体生活的条件，而且还缓和了大型社会群体的动态。同样简单的潜在过程，尽管在略有不同的阶段有不同的参与者，但可能解释其他社会系统的多样性。
