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Research on the evolution of social behaviour has been dominated by genetic relatedness for a long time; however, both recent empirical studies and theoretical concepts give growing evidence for ecological factors acting as very prominent additional or alternative driving forces in social evolution. Now the time is ripe to investigate similarities and differences in the course of social evolution in different animals. This book brings together renowned researchers working on sociality in different animals. For the first time, they compile the evidence for the importance of ecological factors in the evolution of social life, ranging from invertebrate to vertebrate social systems, and evaluate its importance versus that of relatedness.
List of contents
The Evolution and Ecology of Cooperation - History and Concepts.- The Ecology of Altruism in a Clonal Insect.- The Evolutionary Ecology of Eusociality in Australian Gall Thrips: a 'Model Clades' Approach.- The Ecology and Evolution of Helping in Hover Wasps (Hymenoptera: Stenogastrinae).- Why are so Many Bees but so Few Digger Wasps Social? The Effect of Provisioning Mode and Helper Efficiency on the Distribution of Sociality Among the Apoidea.- Social Plasticity: Ecology, Genetics, and the Structure of Ant Societies.- The Ecology of Social Evolution in Termites.- Kin-Recognition Mechanisms in Cooperative Breeding Systems: Ecological Causes and Behavioral Consequences of Variation.- Social Ecology of Horses.- African Mole-Rats: Eusociality, Relatedness and Ecological Constraints.- Genetic and Ecological Determinants of Primate Social Systems.- The Ecology of Social Life: A Synthesis.
Summary
Research on the evolution of social behaviour has been dominated by genetic relatedness for a long time; however, both recent empirical studies and theoretical concepts give growing evidence for ecological factors acting as very prominent additional or alternative driving forces in social evolution. Now the time is ripe to investigate similarities and differences in the course of social evolution in different animals. This book brings together renowned researchers working on sociality in different animals. For the first time, they compile the evidence for the importance of ecological factors in the evolution of social life, ranging from invertebrate to vertebrate social systems, and evaluate its importance versus that of relatedness.
Additional text
From the reviews:
"The ecology of social evolution … attempt to redress a perceived bias for genetic interpretations in the study of social evolution by focussing on the ecological side. … there are new and valuable insights in this book. Readers will find authoritative and up-to-date reviews on a wide range of taxa, from social insects both familiar and unfamiliar, to social vertebrates including cooperatively breeding birds, mole-rats and primates." (Andrew F.G. Bourke, Myrmecological News, Vol. 200 (11), August, 2008)
Report
From the reviews:
"The ecology of social evolution ... attempt to redress a perceived bias for genetic interpretations in the study of social evolution by focussing on the ecological side. ... there are new and valuable insights in this book. Readers will find authoritative and up-to-date reviews on a wide range of taxa, from social insects both familiar and unfamiliar, to social vertebrates including cooperatively breeding birds, mole-rats and primates." (Andrew F.G. Bourke, Myrmecological News, Vol. 200 (11), August, 2008)
