Preprints
Filtering by Subject: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Not by selection alone: expanding the scope of gene-culture coevolution
Published: 2024-09-05
Subjects: Anthropology, Biological and Physical Anthropology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Evolution, Genetics and Genomics, Genomics, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Gene-culture coevolution (GCC) - an ambitious synthesis of biological and social sciences - is often used to explain the evolution of key human traits. Despite the framework’s broad conceptual appeal however, empirical evidence is often perceived as limited to a few key examples like lactase persistence. We argue this apparent gap between theoretical appeal and empirical evidence stems [...]
Untangling the impact of live baitfish restrictions on recreational fishing participation in the United States
Published: 2024-08-29
Subjects: Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
In recent decades, many jurisdictions have established regulations governing the use of live baitfish in recreational fishing. These regulations are usually motivated by environmental concerns, such as the role that live baitfish play in the spread of invasive species and aquatic diseases. One question that might be posed by policymakers is whether limiting the use of live baitfish could impact [...]
Age, sex, and temperature shape within- and among-individual space use in black-capped chickadees
Published: 2024-07-27
Subjects: Animal Studies, Behavior and Ethology, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Historically, spatial ecology studies have focused on average movement patterns within animal groups; however, recent studies highlight the value of considering movement decisions both within- and among-individuals. Using a marked population of black-capped chickadees (Poecile atricapillus), we used the number of unique feeders an individual visits within our study area as a proxy for space use [...]
Variation in the diversity of Sotalia (Cetacea:Delphinidae) dolphin whistle repertoires at a continental scale
Published: 2024-07-08
Subjects: Animal Sciences, Biodiversity, Biology, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
1. While cetaceans are known to produce large and complex acoustic repertoires, the challenges of exhaustively sampling sounds at sea and counting relevant signals has precluded an understanding of their true repertoire diversity. 2. Here we quantify and compare the whistle repertoires of 16 populations in the genus Sotalia, belonging to two sister species, the Guiana dolphin (Sotalia [...]
Linguistic evolution in time and space: addressing the methodological challenges
Published: 2024-07-04
Subjects: Social and Behavioral Sciences
One of the most specific features of the human language faculty is its intrinsic spatio-temporal dynamic, as reflected in languages' characteristic mode of extra-genomic evolution. Understanding what has emerged in the hominin lineage therefore requires capturing this dynamic and the diversity of languages and structures that it generates. In this chapter, we review the state of the art in [...]
Supporting study registration to reduce research waste
Published: 2024-06-04
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Medicine and Health Sciences, Psychology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Research suffers from many inefficiencies. These lead to much research being avoidably wasted, with no or limited value to the end user (e.g. an estimated 82-89% of ecological research, and 85% of medical research). Here, we argue that the quality and impact of ecological research could be drastically improved by registration: pre-registration, and registered reports. However, without a [...]
IPDToolkit: An R package for simulation and Bayesian analysis of iterated prisoner’s dilemma game-play under third-party arbitration
Published: 2024-06-03
Subjects: Anthropology, Political Science, Psychology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Recently, researchers have begun studying the role that third-party arbitration may play in the evolution of cooperation. Using the iterated prisoner’s dilemma (IPD), they show that arbitration can mitigate the negative effects of perception errors on the stability of cooperative strategies. Open questions, both theoretical and empirical, however, remain. To promote research on the role of [...]
Hunter-Gatherer Sociality and the Origins of Human Normative Thinking
Published: 2024-06-03
Subjects: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Reconstructing the origin and evolution of culturally transmitted norms and institutions in the hominin lineage since our split from a common ancestry with African apes is a daunting task. By investigating the social structures of extant simple hunter-gatherers, as well as the evidence of extensive social networks and long-distance trade in early modern humans, we believe that regulation of [...]
Light Pollution at Sea: Implications and Potential Hazards of Human Activity for Offshore Bird and Bat Movements in the Greater North Sea
Published: 2024-05-24
Subjects: Environmental Health and Protection, Environmental Indicators and Impact Assessment, Environmental Studies, Life Sciences, Marine Biology, Natural Resources and Conservation, Natural Resources Management and Policy, Nature and Society Relations, Ornithology, Other Animal Sciences, Other Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Terrestrial and Aquatic Ecology, Water Resource Management, Zoology
Human activity in the North Sea is intensifying, as emerging uses, such as offshore wind farms (OWFs) and liquid natural gas (LNG) terminals, are added to fishing, freight shipping and fossil fuel production as traditional forms of resource exploitation. The volume and scale of these additional installations are projected to increase substantially in the coming decades, which amplifies the need [...]
Factors Influencing Support for Bat Management and Conservation in the Wildland-Urban Interface
Published: 2024-05-13
Subjects: Biodiversity, Environmental Studies, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about bats often underlie social support for bat management and intentions to conserve bats. Effective bat conservation and management hinges on understanding these drivers across contexts. Lands classified as wildland-urban interface (WUI) are rapidly expanding in the USA, increasing the likelihood of human-bat interactions from management practices and [...]
Transportation Forestry as an Interdisciplinary Field for Urban Sustainability
Published: 2024-05-06
Subjects: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Trees and vegetation provide extensive societal benefits, as do transportation systems that connect people with essential needs and services. Yet transportation infrastructure also concentrates heat, pollution, and noise. Integrating forestry with transportation systems has myriad benefits, but most communities cannot realize these benefits due to challenges in communication and integration [...]
Historic residential segregation impacts biodiversity data availability disparately across the tree of life
Published: 2024-04-23
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Race and Ethnicity, Research Methods in Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences, Urban Studies and Planning
Urbanization alters species ranges and nature’s contributions to people, motivating urban conservation. Residential segregation policies have left an indelible impact on urban environments, greenspaces, and wildlife communities, creating socioeconomic heterogeneity and altering biota. However, the extent to which data sufficiently capture urban biodiversity patterns remains unclear, especially [...]
Leveraging AI to improve evidence synthesis in conservation
Published: 2024-04-20
Subjects: Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Life Sciences, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Systematic evidence syntheses (systematic reviews and maps) summarize knowledge and are used to support decisions and policies in a variety of applied fields, from medicine and public health to biodiversity conservation. However, conducting these exercises in conservation is often expensive and slow, which can impede their use and hamper progress in addressing the biodiversity crisis. With the [...]
Children adjust behavior in novel social environments to reflect local cooperative norms inferred from brief exposure
Published: 2024-03-29
Subjects: Anthropology, Social and Behavioral Sciences
Stark intergroup variation in prosocial behavior, as elicited with economic experiments, is evident even though humans are highly mobile. Conformity to local norms has been posited to play an integral role in the maintenance of this variation. Experiments suggest that adults indeed rapidly infer pro- and antisocial norms in a new or changed social environment and adjust their behavior to reflect [...]
A framework for conducting research on consumer demand for high-value wildlife products in Asia
Published: 2024-03-29
Subjects: Social and Behavioral Sciences
Managing demand for wildlife products is essential to address the illegal and unsustainable wildlife trade. In certain Asian countries, traditions underpin demand, and the usage of exotic wildlife products, particularly among wealthy consumers, carries minimal societal stigma. To develop effective demand management strategies, research is required to generate insights into consumers and [...]