Social polymorphism is favoured by the co-evolution of dispersal with social behaviour.

Abstract

Dispersal determines gene flow among groups in a population and so plays a major role in many ecological and evolutionary processes. As gene flow shapes kin structure, dispersal is important to the evolution of social behaviours that influence reproduction within groups. Conversely, dispersal depends on kin structure and social behaviour. Dispersal and social behaviour therefore co-evolve, but the nature and consequences of this interplay are not well understood. Here, we show that it readily leads to the emergence of two social morphs: a sessile, benevolent morph expressed by individuals who tend to increase the reproduction of others within their group relative to their own; and a dispersive, self-serving morph expressed by individuals who tend to increase their own reproduction. This social polymorphism arises due to a positive linkage between the loci responsible for dispersal and social behaviour, leading to benevolent individuals preferentially interacting with relatives and self-serving individuals with non-relatives. We find that this linkage is favoured under a large spectrum of conditions, suggesting that associations between dispersal and other social traits should be common in nature. In line with this prediction, dispersers across a wide range of organisms have been reported to differ in their social tendencies from non-dispersers.