Abstract

Inadvertent social information (ISI) use, i.e., the exploitation of social cues including the presence and behaviour of others, has been predicted to mediate population-level processes even in the absence of cohesive grouping. However, we know little about how such effects may arise when the prey population lacks social structure beyond the spatiotemporal autocorrelation originating from the random movement of individuals. In this study, we built an individual-based model where predator avoidance behaviour could spread among randomly moving prey through the network of nearby observers. We qualitatively assessed how ISI use may affect prey population size when cue detection was associated with different probabilities and fitness costs, and characterised the structural properties of the emerging detection networks that would provide pathways for information spread in prey. We found that ISI use was among the most influential model parameters affecting prey abundance and increased equilibrium population sizes in most examined scenarios. Moreover, it could substantially contribute to population survival under high predation pressure, but this effect strongly depended on the level of predator detection ability. When prey exploited social cues in the presence of high predation risk, the observed detection networks consisted of a large number of connected components with small sizes and small ego networks; this resulted in efficient information spread among connected individuals in the detection networks. Our study provides hypothetical mechanisms about how temporary local densities may allow information diffusion about predation threats among conspecifics and facilitate population stability and persistence in non-grouping animals.

Significance statement

The exploitation of inadvertently produced social cues may not only modify individual behaviour but also fundamentally influence population dynamics and species interactions. Using an individual-based model, we investigated how the detection and spread of adaptive antipredator behaviour may cascade to changes in the demographic performance of randomly moving (i.e., non-grouping) prey. We found that social information use contributed to population stability and persistence by reducing predation-related per capita mortality and raising equilibrium population sizes when predator detection ability reached a sufficient level. We also showed that temporary detection networks had structural properties that allowed efficient information spread among prey under high predation pressure. Our work represents a general modelling approach that could be adapted to specific predator-prey systems and scrutinise how temporary local densities allow dynamic information diffusion about predation threats and facilitate population stability in non-grouping animals.

中文翻译：

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非分组猎物中社会信息介导的种群动态

摘要

即使在没有凝聚力分组的情况下，无意的社会信息（ISI）使用，即利用包括他人的存在和行为在内的社会线索，也被预测为调解人口水平的过程。然而，当猎物群体缺乏源于个体随机运动的时空自相关之外的社会结构时，我们对如何产生这种影响知之甚少。在这项研究中，我们建立了一个基于个体的模型，其中捕食者回避行为可以通过附近观察者的网络在随机移动的猎物之间传播。当线索检测与不同的概率和适应度成本相关时，我们定性地评估了 ISI 的使用如何影响猎物种群大小，并描述了新兴检测网络的结构特性，这些网络将为信息在猎物中传播提供途径。我们发现，在大多数检查的场景中，ISI 的使用是影响猎物丰度和增加平衡种群规模的最有影响力的模型参数之一。此外，它可以极大地促进高捕食压力下的种群生存，但这种效果在很大程度上取决于捕食者检测能力的水平。当猎物在存在高捕食风险的情况下利用社会线索时，观察到的检测网络由大量小尺寸和小自我网络的连接组件组成；这导致在检测网络中连接的个体之间有效地传播信息。

意义陈述

利用无意中产生的社会线索可能不仅会改变个体行为，还会从根本上影响种群动态和物种相互作用。使用基于个体的模型，我们研究了自适应反捕食者行为的检测和传播如何级联到随机移动（即非分组）猎物的人口统计学表现的变化。我们发现，当捕食者检测能力达到足够水平时，社会信息使用通过降低与捕食相关的人均死亡率和提高平衡种群规模来促进种群稳定性和持久性。我们还表明，临时检测网络具有结构特性，可以在高捕食压力下有效地在猎物之间传播信息。