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Review
. 2018 Jun;33(6):376-378.
doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2018.03.008. Epub 2018 Apr 21.

Can Multilayer Networks Advance Animal Behavior Research?

Matthew J Silk  1 , Kelly R Finn  2 , Mason A Porter  3 , Noa Pinter-Wollman  4
Affiliations
Review

Can Multilayer Networks Advance Animal Behavior Research?

Matthew J Silk et al. Trends Ecol Evol. 2018 Jun.

Abstract

Interactions among individual animals - and between these individuals and their environment - yield complex, multifaceted systems. The development of multilayer network analysis offers a promising new approach for studying animal social behavior and its relation to eco-evolutionary dynamics.

Keywords: complex societies; interactions; multilayer networks; network analysis; social behavior; temporal networks.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
A multilayer socio-spatial network can integrate data from animal movement and social interactions. The top layer represents a mating network (based, e.g., on either observations or genetics), the middle layer represents a network of observed social interactions, and the bottom layer represents a spatial network of connected habitat patches. The thickness of intralayer edges represents the strengths of interactions. Interlayer edges between the social and spatial layers connect individuals to habitat patches that they have visited. Interlayer edges between the social and mating layers connect the same individual to itself. Red nodes are females, and blue nodes are males.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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    1. Finn KR, Silk MJ, Porter MA, Pinter-Wollman N. Novel insights into animal sociality from multilayer networks. arXiv:1712.01790 2018

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