Museu de Ciències Naturals de Barcelona

Social organization

Science Research Evolutionary Ecology Social organization

This more ‘ethological’ line is based on the analysis of the patterns of social organisations of the diverse species that are the object of the study.
One of the objectives is to study how the strategies of use of the space determine the social organisation of a species. The study is carried out, therefore, by comparing different species. The starting hypothesis is that nomadic species, such as the siskin, need a higher level of social integration than resident species (e.g. serin, Serinus serinus). If a specimen from a nomadic species loses contact with the members of its group, it will be unlikely to regain contact with them, as they move various tens of kilometres a day. Therefore, contact between the members of the group has to be closer; as a result of this, we assume that the conflicts of interests are greater and that, therefore, there need to be social mechanisms that reduce this conflict and maintain social cohesion. Studies that have been carried out confirm this greater social integration in nomadic species and the appearance of social mechanisms of integration such as allofeeding, vocal coupling or respect for possession.