Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center, U.S. Geological Survey, West Glacier, MT, United States of America.
Glacier National Park, National Park Service, West Glacier, MT, United States of America.
PeerJ. 2023 Aug 8;11:e15625. doi: 10.7717/peerj.15625. eCollection 2023.
Sociality directly influences mating success, survival rates, and disease, but ultimately likely evolved for its fitness benefits in a challenging environment. The tradeoffs between the costs and benefits of sociality can operate at multiple scales, resulting in different interpretations of animal behavior. We investigated the influence of intrinsic (, relatedness, age) and extrinsic factors (, land cover type, season) on direct contact (simultaneous GPS locations ≤ 25 m) rates of bighorn sheep () at multiple scales near the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. During 2002-2012, male and female bighorn were equipped with GPS collars. Indirect contact (GPS locations ≤ 25 m regardless of time) networks identified two major breaks whereas direct contact networks identified an additional barrier in the population, all of which corresponded with prior disease exposure metrics. More direct contacts occurred between same-sex dyads than female-male dyads and between bighorn groups with overlapping summer home ranges. Direct contacts occurred most often during the winter-spring season when bighorn traveled at low speeds and when an adequate number of bighorn were collared in the area. Direct contact probabilities for all dyad types were inversely related to habitat quality, and differences in contact probability were driven by variables related to survival such as terrain ruggedness, distance to escape terrain, and canopy cover. We provide evidence that probabilities of association are higher when there is greater predation risk and that contact analysis provides valuable information for understanding fitness tradeoffs of sociality and disease transmission potential.
社会性直接影响着交配成功率、存活率和疾病，但最终可能是为了在充满挑战的环境中获得适应性优势而进化而来的。社会性的成本和收益之间的权衡可以在多个尺度上发挥作用，从而导致对动物行为的不同解释。我们研究了内在因素（亲缘关系、年龄）和外在因素（土地覆盖类型、季节）对在沃特顿-冰川国际和平公园附近多个尺度上的大角羊直接接触（同时 GPS 位置≤25 米）率的影响。在 2002-2012 年期间，雄性和雌性大角羊都配备了 GPS 项圈。间接接触（GPS 位置≤25 米，无论时间如何）网络确定了两个主要的间断，而直接接触网络确定了该种群中的另一个障碍，所有这些都与先前的疾病暴露指标相对应。同性对之间的直接接触比雌雄对之间更频繁，并且在重叠的夏季栖息地范围内的大角羊群之间也更频繁。直接接触最常发生在冬季和春季，此时大角羊的移动速度较慢，并且该地区有足够数量的大角羊被项圈追踪。所有对类型的直接接触概率与栖息地质量呈负相关，并且接触概率的差异是由与生存相关的变量驱动的，如地形崎岖度、到逃生地形的距离和树冠覆盖度。我们提供了证据表明，当捕食风险更大时，关联的可能性更高，并且接触分析为理解社会性的适应权衡和疾病传播潜力提供了有价值的信息。
