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hey folks,
* The Merlin/CroVen example sounds like the two were clustering around the
same food source (feeders?) and the Merlin took opportunity of a
pre-processed meal.
The context reminds me a bit of interactions between Crows, Red-Taileds,
and Eagles clustering around the chicken-carcass drive-ins in Sheffield
Mills...the Red-Tailed grabs the chicken leg, the crows mob the Red-Tailed
into dropping it...etc...
*More technical for those interested: *
* There is some neat literature along these lines, under the topics "*public
information*" and also "*inadvertent social information*".
Here's a review on the topic by Danchin et al. from Science 2004,
"Public Information: From Nosy Neighbors to Cultural Evolution" which might
be a good starting point:
(full text available online too:
http://www.sciencemag.org/content/305/5683/487.full)
*"Psychologists, economists, and advertising moguls have long known that
human decision-making is strongly influenced by the behavior of others. A
rapidly accumulating body of evidence suggests that the same is true in
animals. Individuals can use information arising from cues inadvertently
produced by the behavior of other individuals with similar requirements.
Many of these cues provide public information about the quality of
alternatives. The use of public information is taxonomically widespread and
can enhance fitness. Public information can lead to cultural evolution,
which we suggest may then affect biological evolution."*
The authors define public information (PI) and inadvertent social
information (ISI) as follows:
*"ISI comprises cues that indicate the spatial location of resources (based
on the location of the information producers) and cues produced by the
performance of others, which is public information (PI)"
*
- Some interesting examples include eavesdropping and off-territory
movements by songbirds in many species (if not all species!) to gather
information that can help inform future breeding decisions (among other
things).
- Interesting to our conversation here, following the paper there are some
references suggesting that using social information can also lead to
maladaptive decisions. Not familiar with this part of the lit anymore!
Cheers,
James.
On Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 11:27 AM, Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca
> wrote:
> I'm sorry but this is clearly a topic of considerable interest to a number
> of naturens subscribers.
>
> If you are not interested, feel free to press the delete key and read
> other posts that are of interest to you.
>
> C.G.M.
>
>
> On 22-Dec-11, at 11:13 AM, Elizabeth Doull wrote:
>
> Can we wrap up this rather lengthy debate and move on?? thanks.
>
> liz
>
>
>
>
--
James Churchill
Kentville, Nova Scotia
jameslchurchill@gmail.com
home: (902) 681-2374
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hey folks, <br><br>* The Merlin/CroVen example sounds like the two were clu=
stering around the same food source (feeders?) and the Merlin took opportun=
ity of a pre-processed meal. <br><br>The context reminds me a bit of intera=
ctions between Crows, Red-Taileds, and Eagles clustering around the chicken=
-carcass drive-ins in Sheffield Mills...the Red-Tailed grabs the chicken le=
g, the crows mob the Red-Tailed into dropping it...etc...<br>
<br><br><u><b>More technical for those interested: </b></u><br><br>* There =
is some neat literature along these lines, under the topics "<b>public=
information</b>" and also "<b>inadvertent social information</b>=
". <br>
<br>Here's a review on the topic by Danchin et al. from Science 2004, <=
br>"Public Information: From Nosy Neighbors to Cultural Evolution"=
; which might be a good starting point:<br><br>(full text available online =
too: <a href=3D"http://www.sciencemag.org/content/305/5683/487.full">http:/=
/www.sciencemag.org/content/305/5683/487.full</a>)<br>
<br><i>"Psychologists, economists, and advertising moguls have long kn=
own that=20
human decision-making is strongly influenced by the
behavior of others. A rapidly accumulating body=20
of evidence suggests that the same is true in animals. Individuals can=20
use
information arising from cues inadvertently=20
produced by the behavior of other individuals with similar requirements.
Many
of these cues provide public information about=20
the quality of alternatives. The use of public information is=20
taxonomically
widespread and can enhance fitness. Public=20
information can lead to cultural evolution, which we suggest may then=20
affect biological
evolution."</i><br><br>The authors define publ=
ic information (PI) and inadvertent social information (ISI) as follows: <b=
r><br><i>"ISI comprises cues that indicate the spatial location of res=
ources=20
(based on the
location of the information producers) and
cues produced by the performance of others, which is public information
(PI)"<br></i><br>- Some interesting examples include eavesdropping an=
d off-territory movements by songbirds in many species (if not all species!=
) to gather information that can help inform future breeding decisions (amo=
ng other things). <br>
<br>- Interesting to our conversation here, following the paper there are s=
ome references suggesting that using social information can also lead to ma=
ladaptive decisions. Not familiar with this part of the lit anymore!<br>
<br>Cheers, <br>James. <br><br><br><br><br><br><br><br><div class=3D"gmail_=
quote">On Thu, Dec 22, 2011 at 11:27 AM, Christopher Majka <span dir=3D"ltr=
"><<a href=3D"mailto:c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca">c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca</a=
>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class=3D"gmail_quote" style=3D"margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1p=
x #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div style=3D"word-wrap:break-word">I'm =
sorry but this is clearly a topic of considerable interest to a number of n=
aturens subscribers.<div>
<br></div><div>If you are not interested, feel free to press the delete key=
and read other posts that are of interest to you.</div><div><br></div><div=
>C.G.M.<div class=3D"im"><br><div><br><div><div>On 22-Dec-11, at 11: