arXiv subjects

Josefine Bohr Brask

Publications and source records attributed to Josefine Bohr Brask.

3 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Far-reaching consequences of trait preferences for animal social network structure and function

Social network structures play an important role in the lives of animals by affecting individual fitness and the spread of disease and information. Nevertheless, we still lack a good understanding of how these structures emerge from the behavior of individuals. Generative network models provide a powerful approach that can help close this gap. Empirical research has shown that trait-based social preferences (preferences for social partners with certain trait values, such as sex, body size, relatedness etc.) play a key role in the formation of social networks across species. Currently, however, we lack a good understanding of how such preferences affect network properties. In this study: 1) we develop a general and flexible generative network model that can create artificial (simulated) networks where social connection is affected by trait-based social preferences; 2) we use this model to investigate how different trait-based social preferences affect social network structure and function. We find that the preferences can affect the efficiency of the networks in terms of transmitting disease and information, and their robustness against fragmentation when individuals disappear, with the effects often - but not always - going in the direction of slower transmission and lower robustness. Furthermore, the extent and form of the effects depend on both the type of preference and the type of trait it is used with. The findings lead to new insights about the potential mechanisms driving the structural diversity of animal social networks, the importance of trait value distributions for social structure, the degree distributions of social networks, and the detectability of trait effects from network data. Overall, the study shows that trait-based social preferences can have far-reaching consequences for populations.

physics.soc-ph↗

arXiv2024

Evolution of cooperation in networks with well-connected cooperators

Cooperative behavior constitutes a key aspect of human society and non-human animal systems, but explaining how cooperation evolves represents a major scientific challenge. It is now well established that social network structure plays a central role for the viability of cooperation. However, not much is known about the importance of the positions of cooperators in the networks for the evolution of cooperation. Here, we investigate how the spread of cooperation is affected by correlations between cooperativeness and individual social connectedness (such that cooperators occupy well-connected network positions). Using simulation models, we find that these correlations enhance cooperation in standard scale-free networks but not in standard Poisson networks. In contrast, when degree assortativity is increased such that individuals cluster with others of similar social connectedness, we find that Poisson networks can maintain high levels of cooperation, which can even exceed those of scale-free networks. We show that this is due to dynamics where bridge areas between social clusters act as barriers to the spread of defection. We also find that this positive effect on cooperation is sensitive to the presence of Trojan horses (defectors placed within cooperator clusters), which allow defection to invade. The results provide new knowledge about the conditions under which cooperation may evolve, and are also relevant to consider in regard to the design of cooperation studies.

q-bio.PE↗

arXiv2021

Animal social networks: an introduction for complex systems scientists

Many animals live in societies where individuals frequently interact socially with each other. The social structures of these systems can be studied in depth by means of network analysis. A large number of studies on animal social networks in many species have in recent years been carried out in the biological research field of animal behaviour and have provided new insights into behaviour, ecology, and social evolution. This line of research is currently not so well connected to the field of complex systems as could be expected. The purpose of this paper is to provide an introduction to animal social networks for complex systems scientists and highlight areas of synergy. We believe that an increased integration of animal social networks with the interdisciplinary field of complex systems and networks would be beneficial for various reasons. Increased collaboration between researchers in this field and biologists studying animal social systems could be valuable in solving challenges that are of importance to animal social network research. Furthermore, animal social networks provide the opportunity to investigate hypotheses about complex systems across a range of natural real-world social systems. In this paper, we describe what animal social networks are and main research themes where they are studied; we give an overview of the methods commonly used to study animal social networks; we highlight challenges in the study of animal social networks where complex systems expertise may be particularly valuable; and we consider aspects of animal social networks that may be of particular interest to complex systems researchers. We hope that this will help to facilitate further interdisciplinary collaborations involving animal social networks, and further integration of these networks into the field of complex systems.

q-bio.PE↗