SOCIAL COST · Differential costs of social living in nature
Horizon 2020 — Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
- Duration
- 2016-02-01 → 2018-01-31
- EU contribution
- €183,455
- Participants
- 1
- Scheme
- MSCA-IF-EF-ST
Lines connect the coordinator with its partners.
Results in brief
Differential costs of social living in nature
Group living is a common phenomenon in nature in a wide range of taxa. While benefits, such as reduced predation risk, and costs, such as increased pathogen transmission, are well documented for some species, many other effects of group living are still poorly understood especially in natural populations. As such, there is a need for more work in wild study systems investigating links between stressors associated with group living and its costs. In particular, how group size and composition, reproduction, and individual social status might affect the level of social stress. Social stress can cause physiological stress in group living animals, including humans, leading to poor health or fitness reduction. Telomere dynamics and oxidative stress are linked to the occurrence of stressors and fitness. However, to date the association between telomere dynamics and oxidative stress/antioxidant defences in wild vertebrates is poorly understood. The aim of this study was to examine the direct links between social status, group size, sex and ecological stressors occurring in the wild and the associated physiological and molecular effects under natural conditions in Cape ground squirrels (Xerus inauris). Overall, this Marie Curie Fellowship was a success, as the substantial samples and behavioural data that have been collected will contribute significantly to our understanding of the cost of sociality.
Data: CORDIS, © European Union
Project objective
Group living is a common phenomenon in nature in a wide range of taxa. Studies in natural systems are central to understanding the evolution of social behaviour and systems. While benefits, such as reduced predation risk, and costs, such as increased pathogen transmission, are well documented for some species, many other effects of group living are poorly understood in natural populations. In particular, group size and composition, and individual social status might affect the level of social stress. Social stress can cause physiological stress in group living animals, including humans, leading to poor health or fitness reduction. The level of costs and benefits, as well as the optimum resolution of the resulting trade-offs, is likely to vary with social status and sex, but the nature of these differences is poorly understood. In this project, I propose to test in a free living sciurid rodent, the Cape ground squirrel (Xerus inauris), whether the costs of group living vary with social status, and whether this can be explained by physiological and molecular changes that influence longevity. To address these questions, I will use biomarkers of aging, involving hormone levels, oxidative damage and telomere loss. Combining the latest methods in measuring such parameters will provide a new understanding of how sociality influences stress responses in free-living mammals of different social status.
Original text from CORDIS.
Participants
- UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW · GlasgowCoordinatorUnited Kingdom
Links
Data: CORDIS, © European Union