Skip to main content
bioRxiv
  • Home
  • About
  • Submit
  • ALERTS / RSS
Advanced Search
New Results

Ageing red deer alter their spatial behaviour and become less social

View ORCID ProfileGregory F Albery, Tim H. Clutton-Brock, Alison Morris, Sean Morris, Josephine M Pemberton, Daniel H Nussey, View ORCID ProfileJosh A Firth
doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.11.448092
Gregory F Albery
1Department of Biology, Georgetown University, Washington, DC
2Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Gregory F Albery
  • For correspondence: gfalbery@gmail.com
Tim H. Clutton-Brock
2Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
3Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alison Morris
2Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Sean Morris
2Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Josephine M Pemberton
2Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Daniel H Nussey
2Institute of Evolutionary Biology, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Josh A Firth
4Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
5Merton College, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Josh A Firth
  • Abstract
  • Full Text
  • Info/History
  • Metrics
  • Preview PDF
Loading

Abstract

Social relationships are important to many aspects of animals’ lives, and an individual’s connectedness may change over the course of their lifespan. Currently, it is unclear whether social connectedness declines with age, and what the underlying mechanisms might be, so the role of age in structuring animal social systems remains unresolved. Here, we describe senescent declines in social connectedness using 43 years of data in a wild, individually-monitored population of a long-lived mammal (European red deer, Cervus elaphus). Applying a series of spatial and social network analyses, we demonstrate that these declines likely occur due to a combination of within-individual changes in social behaviour and altered spatial behaviour (smaller home ranges and movements to lower-density, lower-quality areas). These findings demonstrate that behavioural changes can lead older animals to become less socially connected, shedding light on the ecological and evolutionary processes structuring wild animal populations.

Competing Interest Statement

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Copyright 
The copyright holder for this preprint is the author/funder, who has granted bioRxiv a license to display the preprint in perpetuity. It is made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 International license.
Back to top
PreviousNext
Posted June 12, 2021.
Download PDF
Email

Thank you for your interest in spreading the word about bioRxiv.

NOTE: Your email address is requested solely to identify you as the sender of this article.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Ageing red deer alter their spatial behaviour and become less social
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from bioRxiv
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from the bioRxiv website.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Share
Ageing red deer alter their spatial behaviour and become less social
Gregory F Albery, Tim H. Clutton-Brock, Alison Morris, Sean Morris, Josephine M Pemberton, Daniel H Nussey, Josh A Firth
bioRxiv 2021.06.11.448092; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.11.448092
Reddit logo Twitter logo Facebook logo LinkedIn logo Mendeley logo
Citation Tools
Ageing red deer alter their spatial behaviour and become less social
Gregory F Albery, Tim H. Clutton-Brock, Alison Morris, Sean Morris, Josephine M Pemberton, Daniel H Nussey, Josh A Firth
bioRxiv 2021.06.11.448092; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.06.11.448092

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One

Subject Area

  • Ecology
Subject Areas
All Articles
  • Animal Behavior and Cognition (4380)
  • Biochemistry (9571)
  • Bioengineering (7084)
  • Bioinformatics (24832)
  • Biophysics (12595)
  • Cancer Biology (9949)
  • Cell Biology (14344)
  • Clinical Trials (138)
  • Developmental Biology (7943)
  • Ecology (12095)
  • Epidemiology (2067)
  • Evolutionary Biology (15980)
  • Genetics (10915)
  • Genomics (14730)
  • Immunology (9862)
  • Microbiology (23636)
  • Molecular Biology (9472)
  • Neuroscience (50824)
  • Paleontology (369)
  • Pathology (1538)
  • Pharmacology and Toxicology (2678)
  • Physiology (4009)
  • Plant Biology (8653)
  • Scientific Communication and Education (1508)
  • Synthetic Biology (2389)
  • Systems Biology (6422)
  • Zoology (1345)