Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
Chapter 10
Measuring the Dynamics of Mammalian Societies:
An Ecologist's Guide to Ethological Methods
DAVID W. MACDONALD, PAUL D. STEWART, PAVEL STOPKA, AND
NOBUYUKI YAMAGUCHI
Today, biologists interpret behavior within a context fortified by theories of
cognition, behavioral evolution, and games (Axelrod 1984; Findlay et al.
1989; Hemelrijk 1990; Hare 1992; de Waal 1992), and any or all of four
processes may lead to cooperation: kin selection, reciprocity and byproduct
mutualism, and even trait-group selection (reviewed by Dugatkin 1997). The
processes that fashion societies are set within an ecological context (Macdon-
ald 1983), and a species' ecology can scarcely be interpreted without under-
standing its social life. As the specialties within whole-animal biology diversify
and the once close-knit family of behavioral and ecological disciplines risks
drifting apart, our purpose is to alert ecologists to the ethologist's tools for
measuring social dynamics.
Social Dynamics
j
“If animals live together in groups their genes must get more benefit out of the
association than they put in” (Dawkins 1989). What methods are available to
measure the negotiations—the social dynamics—in this profit and loss
account? We define a social dynamic simply as the change in social interaction
or relationship under the influence of extrinsic or intrinsic factors. Our pur-
pose here is to show how these changes and the factors influencing them may
be measured and identified. Likely candidates include the forces of ecological
and demographic change, together with changes in the experiences and char-
acters of group members. Ontogenic effects (individuals growing up and
