Abstract
Social-network dynamics have profound consequences for biological processes such as information flow, but are notoriously difficult to measure in the wild. We used novel transceiver technology to chart association patterns across 19 days in a wild population of the New Caledonian crow—a tool-using species that may socially learn, and culturally accumulate, tool-related information. To examine the causes and consequences of changing network topology, we manipulated the environmental availability of the crows' preferred tool-extracted prey, and simulated, in silico, the diffusion of information across field-recorded time-ordered networks. Here we show that network structure responds quickly to environmental change and that novel information can potentially spread rapidly within multi-family communities, especially when tool-use opportunities are plentiful. At the same time, we report surprisingly limited social contact between neighbouring crow communities. Such scale dependence in information-flow dynamics is likely to influence the evolution and maintenance of material cultures.
Highlights
Social-network dynamics have profound consequences for biological processes such as information flow, but are notoriously difficult to measure in the wild
Our analyses reveal that the potential for information flow responds rapidly and heterogeneously to changes in resource availability—dynamics that are likely to influence the capacity of crow networks to support cultural variation
Association patterns during each baseline day were significantly correlated with genetic relatedness because of a tendency for first-order related dyads to spend more time in close proximity than more distantly related ones[22]
Summary
Social-network dynamics have profound consequences for biological processes such as information flow, but are notoriously difficult to measure in the wild. We report surprisingly limited social contact between neighbouring crow communities Such scale dependence in information-flow dynamics is likely to influence the evolution and maintenance of material cultures. The emergence and maintenance of cultural variation depend on the mode of social transmission, and on the dynamic structure of the network across which information flows[5,6,7,8] This is because the sequence, frequency and proximity of social encounters determine which individuals are in a position to transmit or learn information at any given time and, by extension, the speed and pathways of diffusion[5]. Our analyses reveal that the potential for information flow responds rapidly and heterogeneously to changes in resource availability—dynamics that are likely to influence the capacity of crow networks to support cultural variation
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