Exploring the link between genetic relatedness r and social contact structure k in animal social networks

Reference:

Wolf, J. B. W., Traulsen, A. and James, R., 2011. Exploring the link between genetic relatedness r and social contact structure k in animal social networks. American Naturalist, 177 (1), pp. 135-142.

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Official URL:

http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/657442

Abstract

Our understanding of how cooperation can arise in a population of selfish individuals has been greatly advanced by theory. More than one approach has been used to explore the effect of population structure. Inclusive fitness theory uses genetic relatedness r to express the role of population structure. Evolutionary graph theory models the evolution of cooperation on network structures and focuses on the number of interacting partners k as a quantity of interest. Here we use empirical data from a hierarchically structured animal contact network to examine the interplay between independent, measurable proxies for these key parameters. We find strong inverse correlations between estimates of r and k over three levels of social organization, suggesting that genetic relatedness and social contact structure capture similar structural information in a real population.

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