Benson John F, Keiter David A, Mahoney Peter J, Allen Benjamin L, Allen Lee, Álvares Francisco, Anderson Morgan L, Barber-Meyer Shannon M, Barocas Adi, Beasley James C, Behrendorff Linda, Belant Jerrold L, Beyer Dean E, Boitani Luigi, Borg Bridget L, Boutin Stan, Boydston Erin E, Brown Justin L, Bump Joseph K, Cepek Jonathon D, Chamberlain Michael J, Chenaux-Ibrahim Yvette M, Cherry Seth G, Ćirović Duško, Ciucci Paolo, Cluff H Dean, Cooper Susan M, Crooks Kevin R, Dupont Daniel L J, Fisher Robert N, Fortin Daniel, Gable Thomas D, García Emilio, Geffen Eli, Gehrt Stanley D, Gillingham Michael, Heard Douglas C, Hebblewhite Mark, Hinton Joseph W, Homkes Austin T, Howden Chris G, Huber Djuro, Jackson Pat J, Joly Kyle, Kelly Allicia, Kelly Marcella J, Kingdon Katrien A, Kulkarni Abhijeet, Kusak Josip, Kuzyk Gerald W, Lake Bryce C, Llaneza Luis, López-Bao José Vicente, MacNulty Daniel R, McLaren Ashley A D, McLoughlin Philip D, Merrill Evelyn H, Mills Kenneth J, Mitchell Numi, Moore Seth A, Mumma Matthew A, Murray Maureen H, Musiani Marco, Nakamura Mónia, Neilson Eric W, Neufeld Lalenia M, Newsome Thomas M, Oakleaf John K, Palacios Vicente, Perdicas Marlo M, Perry Thomas, Petroelje Tyler R, Piper Cyrenea B, Prokopenko Christina M, Prugh Laura R, Riley Seth P D, Rio-Maior Helena, Roffler Gretchen H, Rollins Dale, Sand Håkan, Schmiegelow Fiona K A, Seip Dale R, Sorum Mathew S, St Clair Colleen C, Steenweg Robin, Strohbach Michael W, Tatler Jack, Thaker Maria, Thompson Connor A, Turner Julie W, Vanak Abi T, Vander Wal Eric, Wabakken Petter, Walter Scott E, Webster Sarah C, Wheeldon Tyler J, Wikenros Camilla, Windels Steve K, Young Julie K, Zabihi-Seissan Sana, Zimmermann Barbara, Patterson Brent R
School of Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Lincoln, Nebraska, USA.
Department of Wildland Resources and Ecology Center, Utah State University, Logan, Utah, USA.
Ecology. 2025 Jan;106(1):e4492. doi: 10.1002/ecy.4492. Epub 2024 Dec 12.
Animals within social groups respond to costs and benefits of sociality by adjusting the proportion of time they spend in close proximity to other individuals in the group (cohesion). Variation in cohesion between individuals, in turn, shapes important group-level processes such as subgroup formation and fission-fusion dynamics. Although critical to animal sociality, a comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing cohesion remains a gap in our knowledge of cooperative behavior in animals. We tracked 574 individuals from six species within the genus Canis in 15 countries on four continents with GPS telemetry to estimate the time that pairs of individuals within social groups spent in close proximity and test hypotheses regarding drivers of cohesion. Pairs of social canids (Canis spp.) varied widely in the proportion of time they spent together (5%-100%) during seasonal monitoring periods relative to both intrinsic characteristics and environmental conditions. The majority of our data came from three species of wolves (gray wolves, eastern wolves, and red wolves) and coyotes. For these species, cohesion within social groups was greatest between breeding pairs and varied seasonally as the nature of cooperative activities changed relative to annual life history patterns. Across species, wolves were more cohesive than coyotes. For wolves, pairs were less cohesive in larger groups, and when suitable, small prey was present reflecting the constraints of food resources and intragroup competition on social associations. Pair cohesion in wolves declined with increased anthropogenic modification of the landscape and greater climatic variability, underscoring challenges for conserving social top predators in a changing world. We show that pairwise cohesion in social groups varies strongly both within and across Canis species, as individuals respond to changing ecological context defined by resources, competition, and anthropogenic disturbance. Our work highlights that cohesion is a highly plastic component of animal sociality that holds significant promise for elucidating ecological and evolutionary mechanisms underlying cooperative behavior.
社会群体中的动物通过调整与群体中其他个体近距离相处的时间比例（凝聚力）来应对社会性的成本和收益。个体之间凝聚力的差异反过来又塑造了重要的群体层面的过程，如亚群体形成和裂变融合动态。尽管对动物社会性至关重要，但对影响凝聚力的因素的全面理解在我们对动物合作行为的认识中仍然存在空白。我们利用全球定位系统遥测技术，追踪了四大洲15个国家的犬属六个物种的574只个体，以估计社会群体中个体对在近距离相处的时间，并检验关于凝聚力驱动因素的假设。在季节性监测期间，成对的社会犬科动物（犬属物种）在一起的时间比例（5%-100%）因内在特征和环境条件的不同而有很大差异。我们的大部分数据来自三种狼（灰狼、东部狼和红狼）和郊狼。对于这些物种，社会群体中的凝聚力在繁殖对之间最大，并且随着合作活动的性质相对于年度生活史模式的变化而季节性变化。在所有物种中，狼比郊狼更具凝聚力。对于狼来说，在较大的群体中，成对个体的凝聚力较低，并且在有合适的小型猎物时也是如此，这反映了食物资源和群体内竞争对社会关联的限制。狼的成对凝聚力随着人为景观改造的增加和气候变异性的增大而下降，这凸显了在不断变化的世界中保护社会顶级食肉动物所面临的挑战。我们表明，社会群体中的成对凝聚力在犬属物种内部和之间都有很大差异，因为个体对由资源、竞争和人为干扰定义的不断变化的生态环境做出反应。我们的工作强调，凝聚力是动物社会性的一个高度可塑性组成部分，对于阐明合作行为背后的生态和进化机制具有重要意义。
