Age-dependent shaping of the social environment in a long-lived seabird – A quantitative genetic approach

Individual differences in social behaviour can result in fine-scale variation in spatial distribution and, hence, the social environment experienced. Given the expected fitness consequences associated with differences in social environments, it is imperative to understand the factors that shape it. One potential such factor is age. Age-specific social behaviour, often referred to as “social ageing”, has only recently attracted attention, requiring more empirical work across taxa. Here, we use 29 years of longitudinal data collected in a pedigreed population of long-lived, colonially breeding common terns (Sterna hirundo) to investigate sources of variation in, and quantitative genetic underpinnings of, an aspect of social ageing: the shaping of the social environment experienced, using the number of neighbours during breeding as a proxy. Our analyses reveal age-specific declines in the number of neighbours during breeding, as well as selective disappearance of individuals with a high nu..., , , # Data from: Age-dependent shaping of the social environment in a long-lived seabird – A quantitative genetic approach

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4mw6m90kz](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.4mw6m90kz)

## Description of the data and file structure

Data used for models presented in:

Age-dependent shaping of the social environment in a long-lived seabird – a quantitative genetic approach by Moiron M., and Bouwhuis S. published in the special issue \"Understanding age and society using natural populations\" of Philosophical Transactions B

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These data are part of those collected in an ongoing individual-based longitudinal p...