The puzzle of being social in space

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Social behaviors almost invariably require sharing space. To sociobiologists space confounds and to spatial ecologists social aggregations falsely repeat data. However, sociality and space use are inseparable. Thus, occupying space relates at accessing quality resources while balancing competition for those resources and using the animal aggregations to decrease predation risk. Integrating existing theoretical frameworks that are explicitly spatial, but implicitly social - or the inverse - will permit us access to novel inferences. Our proposed research program has three actions. In the first, we propose to test whether individual animals exhibit flexibility in precise social and spatial behaviors that appear to conflict with one another's benefits and vary by season. We test for flexibility using long-term telemetry data on replicated populations. Second, we pivot to finer-scale inferences by combining ethology and biologging. With these methods, we empirically test the competing roles of spatial variation in resource quality and fine-scale socially-mediated habitat selection. We will use nutritionally relevant distribution models of elemental ratios, e.g., carbon:nitrogen, to capture resource quality. Third, using global data and an experimental movement ecology mesocosm, we propose and test the productivity-sociality gradient hypothesis. The hypothesis predicts spatial and temporal variation in net primary productivity is a mechanism that promotes individuals, populations, and species' variability in social network-derived behaviors. The proposal aims to demonstrate that I have designed the Wildlife Evolutionary Ecology Lab as an inclusive, safe, and welcoming environment whose positive actions in support of equity, diversity, and inclusivity continue to help people overcome institutional and disciplinary barriers and result in elevating equity-seeking individuals to impactful positions within our discipline. The proposal will train at least 10 more HQP, with continued focus on developing excellence in research and service, and helping people achieve their science and science-adjacent, advocacy goals. Diverse approaches: To ensure robust inferences we will use multiple ways of knowing from experimental manipulations to global data syntheses. IMPACT for Application: The proposed work predominantly focusses on social species of conservation and cultural concern, particularly to our Indigenous and agency partners (caribou). Well-grounded in theory, our work endeavors to link behaviors with metrics valuable to managers and conservationists, such as population vital rates. IMPACT for Theory: Our proposal will provide insights into the puzzle of being social in space across levels of biological organization: individuals, groups, populations, and species. Interrogating the social-spatial interface will provide precision about the causes and consequences of covariance between social and spatial phenotypes in a changing world.