Data from: Social associations between California Sea lions influence the use of a novel foraging ground

Social relationships define an individual’s position in its social network, which can influence the acquisition and spread of information and behavioural variants through the population. Thus, when nuisance behaviours spread through wildlife populations, identifying central individuals may provide valuable insights for problem-species management. We studied the effects of network position on California sea lion (Zalophus californianus) discovery and foraging success at a novel foraging ground—the salmonids that aggregate at the Bonneville Dam tailrace, 235 km up the Columbia River. We found that an individual’s centrality in their social network influenced discovery of the Bonneville Dam and whether they returned the next year. Foraging success once at the dam was independent of network position. Extensive lethal and non-lethal removal efforts have been implemented at Bonneville Dam and focused on reducing the number of individual sea lions at the dam. Since social relationships forged at the opening of the Columbia River influence both the discovery and return to the Bonneville Dam, efforts to increase salmon recovery may be enhanced by breaking apart social networks at the opening of the river.

社会关系决定了个体在社交网络中的节点位置，该位置可影响群体内信息与行为变体的获取与传播。因此，当滋扰行为在野生动物种群中扩散时，识别核心个体可为问题物种管理提供重要参考依据。我们以哥伦比亚河上游235公里处的邦纳维尔大坝泄洪道聚集的鲑科鱼类为新型觅食地，研究了社交网络位置对加州海狮（California sea lion, Zalophus californianus）发现该觅食地及觅食成功率的影响。研究结果显示，个体在社交网络中的中心性会影响其对邦纳维尔大坝的发现，以及次年是否会返回该觅食地；而抵达大坝后的觅食成功率则与社交网络位置无关。目前邦纳维尔大坝已实施了大量致死与非致死性移除措施，旨在减少滞留在该水域的海狮数量。鉴于在哥伦比亚河河口形成的社会关系会同时影响海狮对邦纳维尔大坝的发现与返回行为，通过拆解河口处的社交网络，或可进一步提升鲑鱼种群恢复的干预效果。