Constructing social networks from automated telemetry data: A worked example using within- and across-group associations in cooperatively breeding birds

Abstract

Advances in data-logging technologies have provided a way to monitor the movement of individual animals at unprecedented spatial and temporal scales. When used in conjunction with social network analyses, these data can provide deep insight into the structure and dynamics of animal social systems. Emergence of these new technologies demands concomitant progress in workflows to translate data streams from automated systems to social networks, based on biologically relevant metrics. Here we outline key considerations for constructing social networks from automated telemetry data. We highlight the need for paying particular attention to the spatial arrangement of receiver stations with respect to the ecology of study system and developing appropriate criteria for quantifying associations. We provide a case study for constructing social networks from automated telemetry data collected over 1 month during a study of acorn woodpeckers Melanerpes formicivorus, a cooperatively breeding bird. The data consisted of detections of known birds near receiver stations placed within core areas of group territories. We use this system to demonstrate how to build social networks to investigate biological questions about patterns of associations between group members and territory visitors across the landscape.