Social Networks In Animal Behavior
I chose a research article entitled “The Roles of Individuals and Social Networking in a Small Group of Domestic Horses at Pasture”. This article discusses a study conducted in France at the University of Rennes within the Ethology department. The results of this study were analyzed to better understand how large herbivores interact in social networks. As someone who is very passionate about horses, this study was very interesting to me since it clearly relates topics we discussed in class to a subject I have contact with nearly every day.
Looking at Figures 5 and 9 (https://www.omicsonline.org/articles-images/animal-health-behavioural-science-network-analysis-1-105-g005.pngand https://www.omicsonline.org/articles-images/animal-health-behavioural-science-interaction-network-1-105-g009.png), one can see networks very similar to those we have seen in our lectures. First, considering the network in Figure 5, the nodes represent individual animals. All nodes in this particular graph are connected because they are tied to at least one other node. This is a directed graph using arrows to show the path of interactions between each horse. The numbers alongside the ties tell the exact amount of interactions between pairs of nodes (horses). While this is not as immediately easy to read as the +/- labeling of ties used in class, it was useful for the scientists conducting the experiment to follow behavior patterns in the network.
The two network graphs in Figure 9 are structured very similarly to the one in Figure 5. Horses represented by nodes and ties for interactions between them. Figure 9’s graphs however, are more specific in showing the type of interactions. One graph displays the aggressive interactions while the other shows affiliative ones. In the study the scientists well defined the qualities for each behavior. These conditions are very much like those our class encountered in the problem set, where ties are drawn if conditions i., ii., etc. are met.
It is fascinating how these networks are used to map animal behavior in a quantitative format that eventually leads to deeper understanding of species behavior. This study is a real-world example of how applicable networks are to a variety of fields when doing research on interactions. Scientists in this study were able to successfully use networks to find strong and weak ties in the study group and utilize that information to learn about the species. Their findings show that it is possible horses are driven to act more in an affiliative manner in their social networks to aid in lineage survival, unlike the common idea that the animals fall into the category of dominance hierarchy theory. I believe I will be able to observe similar equine social networking when I’m at Cornell’s Oxley Equestrian Center. The application of networks in everyday life doesn’t get much more real than this!