Community structure of the solitary giant pandas is maintained by indirect social connections

Movement Ecology

Research

Wenliang Zhou¹  Fuwen Wei²  Yingjie Ma³  Le Wang³  Meng Wang³  Yonggang Nie⁴  Yibo Hu⁴ 

[1] Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1-5 Beichen Xilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China;Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China;Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1-5 Beichen Xilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China;Center for Evolution and Conservation Biology, Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Guangzhou), Guangzhou, China;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China;Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1-5 Beichen Xilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Key Laboratory of Animal Ecology and Conservation Biology, Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 1-5 Beichen Xilu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China;University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China;Center for Excellence in Animal Evolution and Genetics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China;

关键词: Giant panda;    Social networks;    Genetic network;    Non-invasive genetic sampling;    Social structure;   

DOI  :  10.1186/s40462-022-00354-1

 received in 2022-09-07, accepted in 2022-11-16,  发布年份 2022

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundIndirect interactions between individual solitary mammals, such as the giant panda, are often overlooked because of their nature, yet are important for maintaining the necessary sociality in solitary species.Methods and resultsHere, we determined the genetic identity of all giant panda individuals in a local population and matched these identities with their associations to determine social network of this solitary animal. Total thirty-five giant panda individuals were found in our field survey, and we constructed genetic and social networks for thirty-three individuals who successfully obtained genetic, age and sex information. The results showed that sex had great impact on both social network and genetic network, and age may have the potential to influence the social network of the giant pandas. Adult males, mostly in the central of the social network, which appeared significantly larger network connections than adult females. Due to the female-biased dispersal pattern of wild giant pandas, male-male pairs showed higher relatedness than female-female ones and multi-generational patrilinear assemblages are expected in the study area.ConclusionsThe relatedness of individuals has an influence on the formation of community social structure of giant pandas, and indirect interactions among solitary giant pandas potentially function to reduce competition for resources and inbreeding.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2022

【 图 表 】

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