Environmental complexity influences association network structure and network-based diffusion of foraging information in fish shoals

Socially transmitted information can significantly affect the ways in which animals interact with their environments. We used network-based diffusion analysis, a novel and powerful tool for exploring information transmission, to model the rate at which sticklebacks (Gasterosteus aculeatus) discovered prey patches, comparing shoals foraging in open and structured environments. We found that for groups in the open environment, individuals tended to recruit to both the prey patch and empty comparison patches at similar times, suggesting that patch discovery was not greatly affected by direct social transmission. In contrast, in structured environments we found strong evidence that information about prey patch location was socially transmitted and moreover that the pathway of information transmission followed the shoals’ association network structures. Our findings highlight the importance of considering habitat structure when investigating the diffusion of information through populations and imply that association networks take on greater ecological significance in structured than open environments.

社会传播的信息可显著影响动物与环境互动的模式。我们采用基于网络的扩散分析（network-based diffusion analysis）——一种用于探究信息传播的新颖且高效的工具——对棘鱼（Gasterosteus aculeatus）发现猎物斑块的速率进行建模，并对比了在开放环境与结构化环境中觅食的鱼群。研究发现，在开放环境中的鱼群个体，其前往猎物斑块与空对照斑块的时间较为相近，这表明斑块发现过程并未受到直接社会传播的显著影响。与之相反，在结构化环境中，我们找到了充分证据表明猎物斑块位置的信息是通过社会传播的，且信息传播路径与鱼群的社交关联网络结构相契合。本研究结果凸显了在探究种群间信息扩散时考量栖息地结构的重要性，并表明相较于开放环境，结构化环境中的社交关联网络具有更高的生态意义。