Collaborative Research: Process and consequences of social partner choice revealed by multilayer network analysis

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Many animals live in cooperative groups with social partners. The success of social animals is influenced by both an animal’s own characteristics and by the characteristics of its social partners. A fundamental goal of behavioral biology is to understand how animals choose partners and determine the impact of these partner choices on cooperative behavior and future success. Before forming groups, animals interact with potential social partners in multiple situations involving both cooperative and competitive interactions. This research will develop a novel framework to understand how animals integrate interactions in multiple social situations to make partner choices. It will further test how differences in partner choice decisions influence individual and group success. Uncovering how animals choose partners and form long lasting bonds will advance our understanding of how sociality has evolved and why it persists. Science education will be an important component of this project, including research opportunities for students, developing science mentorship programs for middle school girls from groups who are underrepresented in the sciences, and teaching network science to high school students.The proposed work will take advantage of recent advances in automated animal tracking and social network analysis to assess the causes and consequences of partner choice decisions. Partner choice will be analyzed in nest-founding queen paper wasps, Polistes fuscatus. Polistes go through a period of partner ‘shopping’, during which wasps form and dissolve many short-term social relationships before settling down to nest in stable cooperative groups. First, the research will test how different types of interactions during the shopping period mediate partner choice decisions and how the process of partner choice differs across individuals. Second, the research will examine how costs influence the process and outcome of partner choice. Third, the research will assess the selective benefits of partner choice by comparing social dynamics and success of groups with different composition. By integrating proximate and ultimate examinations of partner choice, studying fine-scale behavioral mechanisms, and long-term fitness consequence, our proposed work will provide a powerful model to test fundamental processes of social evolution.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.