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The collective action problem in primate territory economics
Erik P Willems1, Barbara Hellriegel, Carel P van Schaik
1Anthropological Institute and Museum, University of Zurich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, Zurich 8057, Switzerland. e.willems@aim.uzh.ch
Proceedings. Biological Sciences
|March 22, 2013
Summary
Group-living animals often avoid defending territories due to collective action problems, similar to a public good. However, philopatry of the dominant sex can enable effective territorial defense in primates.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Ecology
- Primate Social Systems
- Evolutionary Anthropology
Background:
- Group-living animals frequently exhibit overlapping home ranges rather than strict territorial defense, despite potential economic benefits of defending resources.
- The absence of territorial defense in group-living species may stem from a collective action problem, where territories function as a public good.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the role of collective action problems in the lack of territorial defense among group-living animals.
- To explore the influence of group size, social structure, and sex-biased dispersal on home range overlap in primates.
- To determine if primate territoriality offers insights into the evolutionary origins of human-like warfare.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of home range overlap and group characteristics across 135 primate species.
- Statistical controls for economic defendability and phylogenetic relatedness.
- Examination of social structure (e.g., multi-adult vs. single-adult groups) and sex-biased dispersal (philopatry).
Main Results:
- A positive correlation was found between group size and home range overlap, even after accounting for economic defendability and phylogeny.
- Groups with multiple adults of both sexes showed significantly higher range overlap compared to groups with a single adult of either sex.
- Philopatry of the larger sex was associated with reduced range overlap, suggesting a mechanism to overcome collective action problems.
Conclusions:
- Social dynamics, particularly collective action problems, are more influential in shaping intergroup relations than ecological factors in many social animals.
- Effective collective territorial defense can be achieved when the dominant sex is philopatric and territorial defense is crucial for survival and reproduction.
- The study provides evidence for an evolutionary basis of human-like warfare, highlighting convergent evolution of escalated territorial conflict in non-human primates.
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