title: Experimental resource pulses influence social-network dynamics and the potential for information flow in tool-using crows.
abstract: Social-network dynamics have profound consequences for biological processes such as information flow, but are notoriously difficult to measure in the wild. We used novel transceiver technology to chart association patterns across 19 days in a wild population of the New Caledonian crow--a tool-using species that may socially learn, and culturally accumulate, tool-related information. To examine the causes and consequences of changing network topology, we manipulated the environmental availability of the crows' preferred tool-extracted prey, and simulated, in silico, the diffusion of information across field-recorded time-ordered networks. Here we show that network structure responds quickly to environmental change and that novel information can potentially spread rapidly within multi-family communities, especially when tool-use opportunities are plentiful. At the same time, we report surprisingly limited social contact between neighbouring crow communities. Such scale dependence in information-flow dynamics is likely to influence the evolution and maintenance of material cultures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: James J H
authors.initials: JJH
authors.lastname: St Clair
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Zackory T
authors.initials: ZT
authors.lastname: Burns
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Centre for Networks and Collective Behaviour, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
authors.forename: Elaine M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bettaney
authors.affiliation: School of Biology, Centre for Biological Diversity, University of St Andrews, St Andrews KY16 9TH, UK.
authors.forename: Michael B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Morrissey
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical Engineering, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195-3770, USA.
authors.forename: Brian
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Otis
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA.
authors.forename: Thomas B
authors.initials: TB
authors.lastname: Ryder
authors.affiliation: Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, Washington, DC 20013-7012, USA.
authors.forename: Robert C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Fleischer
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics and Centre for Networks and Collective Behaviour, University of Bath, Bath BA2 7AY, UK.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: James
authors.affiliation: Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3PS, UK.
authors.forename: Christian
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Rutz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003198:Computer Simulation; D046368:Crows; D004777:Environment; D033181:Information Dissemination; D012919:Social Behavior; D000067570:Social Learning; D053001:Tool Use Behavior