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X-chromosome...

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Epigenetics of Social Behaviour.

Frank Seebacher¹, Jens Krause²

¹School of Life and Environmental Sciences A08, University of Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia.

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

|June 3, 2019

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Environmental factors influence animal social behavior and group dynamics through epigenetic mechanisms. These changes can affect physiology, interactions, and even population-level gene flow, highlighting the heritability of social traits.

Keywords:

DNA methylation HPA axis environment metabolic scope metapopulation transgenerational plasticity

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Evolutionary Biology
Behavioral Ecology
Epigenetics

Background:

Animal group living is fundamental to population and species ecology and evolution.
Social behavior is intrinsically linked to group function.
Environmental factors can significantly impact social behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

To summarize recent findings on how environmental factors influence social behavior through epigenetic mechanisms.
To explore the cascading effects of environment-induced epigenetic changes on individual physiology, social interactions, and population dynamics.
To identify future research directions in heritable epigenetic alterations of social behavior.

Main Methods:

Review and synthesis of recent scientific data and literature.
Focus on epigenetic mechanisms linking environment to physiology and social behavior.
Analysis of how individual-level changes scale up to group and population levels.

Main Results:

Environmental factors (biotic and abiotic) impact social behavior via epigenetic modifications of physiological processes.
Epigenetic changes in individuals alter their physiology, influencing interactions with conspecifics.
These interactions scale up to affect group social states and population-level processes like dispersal and gene flow.

Conclusions:

Epigenetic mechanisms provide a crucial link between the environment and the evolution of social behavior.
Understanding these mechanisms is key to comprehending population and species ecology.
Further empirical research is needed to determine the heritability and population-level consequences of environment-induced epigenetic changes in social interactions.