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Social networks and models for collective motion in animals

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Abstract

The theory of collective motion and the study of animal social networks have, each individually, received much attention. Currently, most models of collective motion do not consider social network structure. The implications for considering collective motion and social networks together are likely to be important. Social networks could determine how populations move in, split up into and form separate groups (social networks affecting collective motion). Conversely, collective movement could change the structure of social networks by creating social ties that did not exist previously and maintaining existing ties (collective motion affecting social networks). Thus, there is a need to combine the two areas of research and examine the relationship between network structure and collective motion. Here, we review different modelling approaches that combine social network structures and collective motion. Although many of these models have not been developed with ecology in mind, they present a current context in which a biologically relevant theory can be developed. We argue that future models in ecology should take inspiration from empirical observations and consider different mechanisms of how social preferences could be expressed in collectively moving animal groups.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank two anonymous reviewers for their insightful and constructive comments and Jon Pitchford and Peter Mayhew for carefully reading the manuscript. N.W.F.B.’s research is supported by the Natural Environment Research Council. D.W.F. and A.J.W. are supported by RCUK Fellowships. D.W.F. acknowledges support from NERC grant no. NE/E016111/1.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. York Centre for Complex Systems Analysis, York, UK

    Nikolai W. F. Bode, A. Jamie Wood & Daniel W. Franks

  2. Department of Biology, University of York, P.O. Box 373, York, YO10 5YW, UK

    Nikolai W. F. Bode, A. Jamie Wood & Daniel W. Franks

  3. Department of Mathematics, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK

    A. Jamie Wood

  4. Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, YO10 5DD, UK

    Daniel W. Franks

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  1. Nikolai W. F. Bode
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Correspondence to Daniel W. Franks.

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Communicated by J. Krause

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Bode, N.W.F., Wood, A.J. & Franks, D.W. Social networks and models for collective motion in animals. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 65, 117–130 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-010-1111-0

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