Social rank modulates how environmental quality influences cooperation and conflict within animal societies. Issue 1935 (30th September 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Liu, Mark; Chen, Bo-Fei; Rubenstein, Dustin R.; Shen, Sheng-Feng
• Is Part Of: Proceedings. Volume 287:Issue 1935(2020)
• Publication Date: 2020-09-30
• Subjects: collective action -- interspecific competition -- Nicrophorus spp. -- environmental quality -- social evolution; Biology -- Periodicals; 570.5
• DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2020.1720
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0962-8452

Abstract

Abstract : Although dominance hierarchies occur in most societies, our understanding of how these power structures influence individual investment in cooperative and competitive behaviours remains elusive. Both conflict and cooperation in animal societies are often environmentally regulated, yet how individuals alter their cooperative and competitive investments as environmental quality changes remain unclear. Using game theoretic modelling, we predict that individuals of all ranks will invest more in cooperation and less in social conflict in harsh environments than individuals of the same ranks in benign environments. Counterintuitively, low-ranking subordinates should increase their investment in cooperation proportionally more than high-ranking dominants, suggesting that subordinates contribute relatively more when facing environmental challenges. We then test and confirm these predictions experimentally using the Asian burying beetle Nicrophorus nepalensis . Ultimately, we demonstrate how social rank modulates the relationships between environmental quality and cooperative and competitive behaviours, a topic crucial for understanding the evolution of complex societies.