Abstract

In many social species, group members form strong social bonds. Such strong bonds are well-known to generate long-term fitness benefits, but they are also expected to influence short-term behavioural decisions. Here, we use field observations and an experimental manipulation to investigate whether variation in social-bond strength (as determined from grooming interactions) influences nearest-neighbour choices while foraging in wild dwarf mongooses (Helogale parvula). Preferred grooming partnerships (PGPs), representing particularly strong bonds, were found predominately between male–female dyads but among a range of dominance-status dyads. When searching for food, dwarf mongooses with PGPs were more likely than expected by chance to forage close to a preferred grooming partner. Foraging near a strongly bonded groupmate might reduce the predation risk or increase foraging opportunities and the transfer of social information. In addition, there could be stress-reducing benefits, although our field experiment provided no evidence that nearest-neighbour preferences for strongly bonded groupmates were additionally favoured, or indeed disrupted, in the aftermath of a short-term stressful event. Investigating the potential influence of strong social bonds on short-term behavioural decisions with potential fitness consequences is important for our understanding of social interactions and cooperation.

Significance statement

Enduring, close social bonds between individuals provide considerable long-term health and fitness benefits, but are also expected to influence short-term behavioural decisions. We investigated whether social-bond strength (as determined from grooming interactions) influenced foraging decisions in cooperatively breeding dwarf mongoose groups. We found particularly strong social bonds in the form of preferred grooming partnerships in a subset of male–female dyads. Dwarf mongoose foraging decisions were affected by the strength of their social relationships with groupmates: individuals with preferred grooming partners preferred to have these individuals as their nearest neighbours when searching for food. We used a field-based experimental manipulation to investigate whether stressful events impact nearest-neighbour choices, but found no evidence that preferences to forage near strongly bonded groupmates were disrupted or more additionally favoured in the aftermath of a stressful event. Our current work extends understanding of how social bonds can potentially influence within-group behaviour.

中文翻译：

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紧密联系的个体更喜欢在合作繁殖的矮人猫鼬群中一起觅食

摘要

在许多社会物种中，群体成员形成了强大的社会纽带。众所周知，这种牢固的结合可以产生长期的健身益处，但也有望影响短期的行为决策。在这里，我们使用野外观察和实验操作来调查社交键强度的变化（由修饰相互作用确定）是否会在野生矮猫鼬觅食时影响最近的邻居选择（Helogale parvula）。首选的修饰伙伴关系（PGP），代表着特别牢固的联系，主要存在于男性与女性二元组之间，但在一系列主导地位的二元组中。在寻找食物时，带有PGP的矮人猫鼬比偶然发现的机会更容易觅食首选的美容伴侣。在关系紧密的同伴附近觅食可能会降低捕食风险或增加觅食机会和社交信息的传递。此外，尽管我们的现场实验没有提供证据表明，在短期压力事件之后，邻国对强联系的队友的偏好得到了额外的支持，甚至被破坏了，但是，这可能会带来缓解压力的好处。

重要性声明

个体之间持久，紧密的社会纽带提供了长期的健康和健身益处，但也有望影响短期的行为决策。我们调查了社会结合强度（由梳理相互作用确定）是否影响了合作繁殖矮人猫鼬组的觅食决策。我们发现，在男女成对的子集中，以偏爱的美容伴侣的形式存在着特别牢固的社会联系。矮人猫鼬的觅食决定受到他们与同伴的社交关系的影响：有偏爱的伴侣的人在寻找食物时，更倾向于将这些人作为他们的最近邻居。我们使用了基于现场的实验方法来调查压力事件是否会影响最近邻的选择，但是没有证据表明在压力事件之后，对有强烈关系的同伴的觅食偏好被打乱或受到更多的青睐。我们当前的工作扩展了对社会纽带可能如何影响群体内部行为的理解。