Data for: What you have, not who you know: food-enhanced social capital and changes in social behavioural relationships in a non-human primate
Data files
Jan 08, 2024 version files 27.58 KB
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kin_stats_ms.csv
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network_changes_ms.csv
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rank_proportion_ms.csv
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README.md
Jan 10, 2024 version files 27.65 KB
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kin_stats_ms.csv
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network_changes_ms.csv
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rank_proportion_ms.csv
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README.md
Abstract
Social network position in non-human primates has far-reaching fitness consequences. Critically, social networks are both heterogenous and dynamic, meaning an individual’s current network position is likely to change due to both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. However, our understanding of the drivers of changes in social network position is largely confined to opportunistic studies. Experimental research on the consequences of in situ, controlled network perturbations is limited. Here we conducted a food-based experiment in rhesus macaques to assess whether allowing an individual the ability to provide high-quality food to her group changed her social behavioural relationships. We considered both her social network position across five behavioural networks, as well as her dominance and kin interactions. We found that gaining control over a preferential food resource had far-reaching social consequences. There was an increase in both submission and aggression centrality and changes in the socio-demographic characteristics of her agonistic interaction partners. Further, we found that her grooming balance shifted in her favour as she received more grooming than she gave. Together, these results provide a novel, preliminary insight into how in situ, experimental manipulations can modify social network position and point to broader network-level shifts in both social capital and social power.
README: Dataset for "What you have, not who you know: food-enhanced social capital and changes in social behavioural relationships in a non-human primate"
https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.tb2rbp07s
The goal of the experiment was to assess whether allowing an individual Rhesus macaque to provide food to her group changed her social behavioural relationships. Our study consisted of a 4-week baseline period and a 4-week experimental period during which behavioural observations were conducted. During the baseline period, there were no changes to daily routine. During the experimental period, one female with average dominance rank and average social connectivity was trained to open a food box and provide high-quality food to her group once per day. The provider monkey was trained using standard positive reinforcement techniques to pull a non-functional lever on a feeder box when cued by research staff.
Behavioural observations were conducted by two observers four days per week on all adult individuals (3+ years) in the group. One observer recorded aggressive interactions and status signalling interactions between adult group members using an ad libitum event sampling design. A second observer recorded all affiliative interactions (i.e. social grooming, huddling/social contact, and proximity within arm’s reach) between adult group members during scan samples conducted every 20 minutes. Affiliative and aggressive interactions were recorded in dyads, and the initiator and recipient specified.
Data processing:
Behavioural observations were used to construct a weighted, directed behavioural network for each of the following behaviours, for both baseline and experimental phases separately: (1) dyadic aggressive interactions where aggressive behaviour was met with a clear submissive response, (2) approach – move away interactions, such as displacements, (3) SBT signals in response to peaceful approaches (note: peaceful SBTs may be accompanied by other submissive behaviours including turn away, move away or rump present), and (4) social grooming interactions. Weighted, undirected networks were constructed for huddling/social contact and proximity interactions. For directed behaviours, indegree, outdegree (the number of adjacent edges to each node), and strength (total number of interactions) were calculated, while degree centrality was calculated for undirected networks. Dominance ranks were calculated from agonistic interactions for all adult individuals using the Perc package.
We found that gaining control over a preferential food resource had far-reaching consequences on her position in both the submission and aggression networks, as well as the socio-demographic characteristics of her agonistic interaction partners. Further, we found that her grooming balance shifted in her favour as she received more grooming than she gave.
Description of the data and file structure
File: network_changes_ms.csv
Description: changes in network metrics of 6 behaviours and changes in grooming balance (given versus received) between the baseline and experimental periods for all individuals. Degree refers to the number of unique partners the individual interacts with and strength refers to the total number of interactions. Four behaviours are directed (in versus out) and two behaviours are undirected.
Variables:
- ID: Animal ID
- Agg_in_change_deg: change in aggression indegree between baseline and experimental
- Groom_in_change_deg: change in grooming indegree between baseline and experimental
- pSBT_in_change_deg: change in peaceful SBT indegree between baseline and experimental
- Displ_in_change_deg: change in displacement indegree between baseline and experimental
- Agg_out_change_deg: change in aggression outdegree between baseline and experimental
- Groom_out_change_deg: change in grooming outdegree between baseline and experimental
- pSBT_out_change_deg: change in peaceful SBT outdegree between baseline and experimental
- Displ_out_change_deg: change in displacement outdegree between baseline and experimental
- Agg_out_change_stre: change in aggression strength (out) between baseline and experimental
- Groom_out_change_stre: change in grooming strength (out) between baseline and experimental
- pSBT_out_change_stre: change in peaceful SBT strength (out) between baseline and experimental
- Displ_out_change_stre: change in displacement strength (out) between baseline and experimental
- Agg_in_change_stre: change in aggression strength (in) between baseline and experimental
- Groom_in_change_stre: change in grooming strength (in) between baseline and experimental
- pSBT_in_change_stre: change in peaceful SBT strength (in) between baseline and experimental
- Displ_in_change_stre: change in displacment strength (in) between baseline and experimental
- Hudd_change_stre: change in huddling strength between baseline and experimental
- Prox_change_stre: change in proximity strength between baseline and experimental
- Hudd_change_deg: change in huddling degree centrality between baseline and experimental
- Prox_change_deg: change in proximity degree centrality between baseline and experimental
- groom_diff_BL: grooming balance during the baseline period
- groom_diff_Exp: grooming balance during the experimental period
File: rank_proportion_ms.csv
Description: Changes in interaction partners by rank for all individuals
Variables:
- ID: Animal ID
- Period: study period
- Network: behavioural network
- no: count of dyads where the initiator was higher ranked than the recipient
- yes: count of dyads where initiator was lower ranked than the recipient
- prop: proportion of dyads in which the initiator was higher ranked (ranked higher/total dyads)
File: kin_stats ms.csv
Description: Changes in kin-related interaction partners of the provider monkey
Variables:
- Behaviour: type of behaviour
- Total_Interactions: total number of interactions the provider monkey was involved in
- Percent_with_Kin: percentage of the total number of interactions that were with kin
- Unique_Partners: count of unique partners the provider interacted with
- Percent_Kin_Partners: percentage of partners that were kin
- Period: study period
Sharing/Access information
N/A
Code/Software
File: feederbox_ms_code.Rmd
Description: R notebook of all code used for analysis and figures. R notebook is annotated accordingly. R notebook is available in the electronic supplementary materials of the publication.
Update: minor correction to "Total_Interactions" column in kin_stats ms.csv
Methods
Data collection:
Data were collected on a single group of Rhesus macaques. Behavioural observations were conducted all adult individuals (3+ years) in the group. Affiliative and agonistic interactions were recorded.
Data processing:
Behavioural observations were used to construct a weighted, directed behavioural network for each of the following behaviours, for both baseline and experimental phases separately: (1) dyadic aggressive interactions where aggressive behaviour was met with a clear submissive response, (2) approach – move away interactions, such as displacements, (3) SBT signals in response to peaceful approaches (note: peaceful SBTs may be accompanied by other submissive behaviours including turn away, move away. or rump present), and (4) social grooming interactions. Weighted, undirected networks were constructed for huddling/social contact and proximity interactions. For directed behaviours, indegree, outdegree (the number of adjacent edges to each node), and strength (total number of interactions) were calculated, while degree centrality was calculated for undirected networks.
Dominance ranks were calculated from agonistic interactions for all adult individuals using the Perc package.