Quantitative characterization of animal social organization: Applications for epidemiological modelling

Social organization is a key aspect of animal ecology, closely interlinked with all aspects of animal behaviour. The structure of animal assemblages is highly diverse, both within and between species. The complexity and variety of social systems and the dynamic nature of interactions and dependencies between members of social groups have long been major obstacles for developing operational characterizations of social organization. Here, social network analysis, a set of statistical tools rooted in graph theory, suggests itself as a potential solution for this problem, by offering quantitative measures for various aspects of social relationships. In this review I will first introduce network analysis as a tool to characterize the social organization of animal groups and population and, then, focus on the application of this method for epidemiological modelling, specifically the prediction of spreading patterns of pathogens in livestock and its potential for informing targeted surveillance and planning of intervention measures.