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

许多动物生活在与社会伙伴合作的群体中。社会性动物的成功既受动物自身的特征影响，也受其社会伙伴的特征影响。 行为生物学的一个基本目标是了解动物如何选择伙伴，并确定这些伙伴选择对合作行为和未来成功的影响。在形成群体之前，动物在多种情况下与潜在的社会伙伴互动，包括合作和竞争互动。这项研究将开发一个新的框架，以了解动物如何在多种社会情境中整合互动，以做出伴侣选择。它将进一步测试合作伙伴选择决策的差异如何影响个人和团体的成功。揭示动物如何选择伴侣并形成持久的联系将促进我们对社会性如何进化以及为什么它会持续存在的理解。 科学教育将是该项目的一个重要组成部分，包括为学生提供研究机会，为在科学领域代表性不足的中学女生开发科学导师计划，以及向高中生教授网络科学。拟议的工作将利用自动动物跟踪和社会网络分析的最新进展来评估伴侣选择决策的原因和后果。合作伙伴的选择将在筑巢女王纸黄蜂，Polistes fuscatus进行分析。蜂类会经历一段伙伴“购物”的时期，在此期间，黄蜂会形成并解散许多短期的社会关系，然后定居下来，在稳定的合作群体中筑巢。首先，研究将测试如何不同类型的互动在购物期间调解合作伙伴的选择决定，以及合作伙伴的选择过程中如何不同的个人。其次，研究将探讨成本如何影响合作伙伴选择的过程和结果。第三，研究将通过比较不同组成的群体的社会动态和成功来评估伙伴选择的选择性效益。通过整合伙伴选择的近端和最终检查，研究精细尺度的行为机制，以及长期的健身后果，我们提出的工作将提供一个强大的模型来测试社会进化的基本过程。这个奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并已被认为是值得通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估的支持。

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.