Social tipping points in animal societies

Jonathan N Pruitt; Andrew Berdahl; Christina Riehl; Noa Pinter-Wollman; Holly V Moeller; Elizabeth G Pringle; Lucy M Aplin; Elva J H Robinson; Jacopo Grilli; Pamela Yeh; Van M Savage; Michael H Price; Joshua Garland; Ian C Gilby; Margaret C Crofoot; Grant N Doering; Elizabeth A Hobson

doi:10.1098/rspb.2018.1282

Social tipping points in animal societies

Proc Biol Sci. 2018 Sep 19;285(1887):20181282. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2018.1282.

Authors

Jonathan N Pruitt^{1

2}, Andrew Berdahl^{3

4}, Christina Riehl⁵, Noa Pinter-Wollman⁶, Holly V Moeller⁷, Elizabeth G Pringle⁸, Lucy M Aplin^{9

10}, Elva J H Robinson¹¹, Jacopo Grilli⁴, Pamela Yeh⁶, Van M Savage⁶, Michael H Price⁴, Joshua Garland⁴, Ian C Gilby¹², Margaret C Crofoot¹³, Grant N Doering^{7

2}, Elizabeth A Hobson⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California - Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA agelenopsis@gmail.com.
² Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4K1, Canada.
³ School of Aquatic and Fisheries Sciences, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
⁴ Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA.
⁵ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
⁶ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California - Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA.
⁷ Department of Ecology, Evolution and Marine Biology, University of California - Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA 93106, USA.
⁸ Department of Biology, University of Nevada - Reno, Reno, NV 89557, USA.
⁹ Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology, Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
¹⁰ Cognitive and Cultural Ecology Research Group, Max Planck Institute of Ornithology, Radolfzell, 78315, Germany.
¹¹ Department of Biology, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK.
¹² School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and Institute of Human Origins, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ 85287, USA.
¹³ Department of Anthropology, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

Abstract

Animal social groups are complex systems that are likely to exhibit tipping points-which are defined as drastic shifts in the dynamics of systems that arise from small changes in environmental conditions-yet this concept has not been carefully applied to these systems. Here, we summarize the concepts behind tipping points and describe instances in which they are likely to occur in animal societies. We also offer ways in which the study of social tipping points can open up new lines of inquiry in behavioural ecology and generate novel questions, methods, and approaches in animal behaviour and other fields, including community and ecosystem ecology. While some behaviours of living systems are hard to predict, we argue that probing tipping points across animal societies and across tiers of biological organization-populations, communities, ecosystems-may help to reveal principles that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Keywords: collapse; complex system; cooperation; critical point; hysteresis; social network.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Behavior, Animal*
Ecosystem
Social Behavior*

Grants and funding

R01 GM115509/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/United States