Recovery following the Gediz earthquake: a study of four villages of western Turkey

This paper is the result of a social and economic survey of four villages in the Gediz region of South West Anatolia, Turkey, which was undertaken in two phases, October/November 1982 and March/April 1984. The specific aims of this survey were to define what was perceived as recovery in the local social, cultural and economic context and to measure recovery in communities which had suffered different degrees of distress and loss following the earthquake and, consequently, had received different amounts and kinds of assistance from the government. Essentially, therefore, the survey sought to answer the question – how far did the government programme of assistance promote recovery and over what period of time? The implications of such an inquiry concern what constitutes appropriate assistance following earthquake in rural communities. It is hoped that studies of this kind can help to guide decision making of both national governments and international humanitarian organizations on the role of material aid in the process of recovery. This is particularly urgent in view of the fact that preliminary investigations of other small rural and under-developed communities struck by earthquake suggest that material aid may actually preclude recovery in the longer term.     

Indigenous responses to drought in sub-Saharan Africa*

Drought is a frequent occurrence in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa, and the existence of periodic drought can be documented over hundreds of years. As a consequence of the routine rainfall shortages that affect them, agricultural and pastoral societies have developed a number of social institutions and mechanisms for bridging temporary food production shortfalls caused by drought. Drawing on the literature and field data from southeastern Kenya, this paper discusses a number of regular indigenous responses to short-term drought in sub-Saharan Africa. Changes in these patterns in the present day are also discussed. It is concluded that market-based responses are now the most important strategies, but that traditional institutions remain significant and contribute to the viability of drought-affected societies.     

Understanding resident satisfaction with involvement in highway planning: in-depth interviews during a highway planning process in the Netherlands

This study investigates resident satisfaction with provided involvement activities during highway planning processes, with particular attention given to the planned Southern Ring Road highway project in Groningen, the Netherlands. In-depth interviews with 38 residents living in the project area reveal important themes contributing to satisfaction. Satisfaction with passive information activities is motivated by the extent to which information addresses concerns, but (dis)trust in government and other information sources also plays a role. For residents preferring to obtain additional information, perceived access to such information and the extent to which it reduces concerns are also important to satisfaction. Finally, for residents who would rather participate actively, satisfaction is motivated by their perceived access to participation activities and the sense of being heard. Study results show how residents’ evaluations of the themes underpinning involvement satisfaction are based on their perceptions of actual project team activities and contextual factors.     

Kin-preferential cooperation,dominance-dependent reproductive skew,and competition for mates in communally nesting female house mice

Little is known about the behavioural mechanisms facilitating kin-preferential communal breeding in wild house mice (Mus domesticus). We evaluated the effect of kinship and male availability on aggression, social structure and reproductive skew in groups of female mice freely interacting and reproducing in semi-natural indoor enclosures. Triplets of either sisters or non-sisters were established in enclosures provided with either one or three littermate males, which were unrelated and unfamiliar to the females. Sisters were more spatially associated and less aggressive than non-sisters, leading to higher incidences of communal breeding and reproduction. This is in agreement with theoretical considerations on kin selection in house mice. Reproductive success was highly skewed in favour of dominant females due to subordinate infertility or complete loss of first litters, which might have been caused by dominant females. In spite of this, subordinates only rarely dispersed from the enclosures, suggesting that perceived dispersal risk generally outweighed relatively reduced reproductive potentials. Aggression levels among females were significantly higher when one male was available, compared to when three males were available. We suggest that this might result from higher female-female competition for mates, due to the risk of missing fertilisation when synchronously oestrous females encounter limited numbers of males in a deme. Our results indicate that, first, communal nursing in house mice might have evolved to make the best out of a bad job rather than to enhance offspring fitness; and, second, that female-female mate-competition might play an important role in shaping female social structure in this polygynous mammal.Electronic Supplementary Material Supplementary material is available in the online version of this article at Communicated by F. Trillmich     

Individual roosting strategies in a flock-living bird: movement and social cohesion of hooded crows (Corvus corone cornix) from pre-roost gatherings to roost sites

The function of the conspicuous pre-roost gathering in communally roosting birds is poorly known. We studied movement and social cohesion of radio-tagged hooded crows (Corvus corone cornix) from their daytime location via pre-roost to roost in autumn and winter. With increasing snowfall the previous 24 h, the crows attended pre-roosts farther from the territory, and moved longer from pre-roost to roost. The crows became more likely to roost communally as distance to their territory increased. Attending a pre-roost on average almost doubled the travel distance to a communal roost. Crows were much more likely to join the same roost when they had attended the same pre-roost than otherwise. Breeding mates were more likely to keep together from pre-roost to roost than were other assigned pairs of a territorial male and female. For assigned pairs of non-mates, cohesion from pre-roost to roost decreased with increasing distance to roost, and was higher when both crows roosted communally compared to when at least one of them roosted in its territory. When both roosted communally, cohesion decreased with increasing snowfall and increasing number of crows attending the pre-roost, increased with increasing snow depth, and became higher among two females, compared to other combinations of two crows, with increasing number of crows attending the pre-roost. These patterns may be interpreted as supporting several of the current hypotheses on the function of pre-roost gathering. Electronic Publication     

Behavioral and life-history components of division of labor in honey bees (Apis mellifera L.)

Variability exists among worker honey bees for components of division of labor. These components are of two types, those that affect foraging behavior and those that affect life-history characteristics of workers. Variable foraging behavior components are: the probability that foraging workers collect (1) pollen only; (2) nectar only; and (3) pollen and nectar on the same trip. Life history components are: (1) the age the workers initiate foraging behavior; (2) the length of the foraging life of a worker; and (3) worker length of life. We show how these components may interact to change the social organization of honey bee colonies and the lifetime foraging productivity of individual workers. Selection acting on foraging behavior components may result in changes in the proportion of workers collecting pollen and nectar. Selection acting on life-history components may affect the size of the foraging population and the distribution of workers between within nest and foraging activities. We suggest that these components define possible sociogenic pathways through which colony-level natural selection can change social organization. These pathways may be analogous to developmental pathways in the morphogenesis of individual organisms because small changes in behavioral or life history components of individual workers may lead to major changes in the organizational structure of colonies. Correspondence to: R.E. Page, Jr.     

Division of labour and worker size polymorphism in ant colonies: the impact of social and genetic factors

Division of labour among workers is central to the organisation and ecological success of insect societies. If there is a genetic component to worker size, morphology or task preference, an increase in colony genetic diversity arising from the presence of multiple breeders per colony might improve division of labour. We studied the genetic basis of worker size and task preference in Formica selysi, an ant species that shows natural variation in the number of mates per queen and the number of queens per colony. Worker size had a heritable component in colonies headed by a doubly mated queen (h ²=0.26) and differed significantly among matrilines in multiple-queen colonies. However, higher levels of genetic diversity did not result in more polymorphic workers across single- or multiple-queen colonies. In addition, workers from multiple-queen colonies were consistently smaller and less polymorphic than workers from single-queen colonies. The relationship between task, body size and genetic lineage appeared to be complex. Foragers were significantly larger than brood-tenders, which may provide energetic or ergonomic advantages to the colony. Task specialisation was also often associated with genetic lineage. However, genetic lineage and body size were often correlated with task independently of each other, suggesting that the allocation of workers to tasks is modulated by multiple factors. Overall, these results indicate that an increase in colony genetic diversity does not increase worker size polymorphism but might improve colony homeostasis.     

Dual function of allopreening in the cooperatively breeding green woodhoopoe, Phoeniculus purpureus

Allopreening is a widespread but little-studied phenomenon in birds and is particularly prevalent in species where individuals are forced into close proximity. Such a situation facilitates the transfer of ectoparasites between individuals and allopreening has therefore been proposed to serve a hygienic function. In addition, allopreening might theoretically play a role in social communication. Green woodhoopoes (Phoeniculus purpureus) are cooperatively breeding birds that roost communally every night in a tree cavity and are thus susceptible to high ectoparasite loads. Our results suggest that allopreening of the head and neck (“head”), which cannot be efficiently self-preened, serves a primarily hygienic function: all individuals, irrespective of sex, dominance status, and group size, donated and received similar rates of head allopreening and terminated a similar proportion of bouts in which they were involved. Furthermore, there was a high occurrence of reciprocation and head allopreening occurred at a constant rate throughout the year. In contrast, allopreening of the rest of the body, which is accessible to the recipient itself, is likely to serve a primarily social function: body allopreening rates were higher in larger groups; dominant individuals received more body allopreening and terminated a significantly higher proportion of bouts than subordinates; and subordinates donated body allopreening at a higher rate than dominants. Moreover, bouts initiated by dominants were more likely to be reciprocated than those initiated by subordinates and body allopreening rates varied seasonally. Allopreening in the green woodhoopoe is therefore likely to serve a dual function, depending on the part of the body involved.     

Divided destinies: group choice by female savannah baboons during social group fission

Group living provides benefits to individuals while imposing costs on them. In species that live in permanent social groups, group division provides the only opportunity for nondispersing individuals to change their group membership and improve their benefit to cost ratio. We examined group choice by 81 adult female savannah baboons (Papio cynocephalus) during four fission events. We measured how each female’s group choice was affected by several factors: the presence of her maternal kin, paternal kin, age peers, and close social partners, her average kinship to groupmates, and her potential for improved dominance rank. Maternal kin, paternal kin, and close social partners influenced group choice by some females, but the relative importance of these factors varied across fissions. Age peers other than paternal kin had no effect on group choice, and average kinship to all groupmates had the same effect on group choice as did maternal kin alone. Most females were subordinate to fewer females after fissions than before, but status improvement did not drive female group choice; females often preferred to remain with social superiors who were their close maternal kin, rather than improving their own social ranks. We suggest that during permanent group fissions, female baboons prefer to remain with close maternal kin if those are abundant enough to influence their fitness; if they have too few close maternal kin then females prefer to remain with close paternal kin, and social bonds with nonkin might also become influential. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.     

Racketed tail of the male and female turquoise-browed motmot: male but not female tail length correlates with pairing success,performance, and reproductive success

Both males and females of many avian species maintain elaborate plumage traits, and elaborate monomorphic plumage may convey adaptive benefits to one or both sexes as inter- or intraspecific signals. Both sexes of the turquoise-browed motmot (Eumomota superciliosa) are elaborately plumed with long racket-tipped tail. I investigated whether the racketed tail functions as a sexually selected signal in one or both sexes by testing the predictions that males and/or females with the largest tails have: (1) greater pairing success, (2) greater reproductive performance (clutch-initiation date, clutch size, and hatching success), and (3) greater reproductive success. Yearling males with longer denuded rachises (wires) on the central tail feathers had greater pairing success. In addition, adult males with longer wires paired with females who laid larger clutches, had greater hatching success independent of clutch size, and fledged more young. There was no relationship between female tail plumage and pairing success, reproductive performance, or fledgling success. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that male tail plumage functions as a mate choice or status signal, but that the tail of the female does not function in a sexually selected context. I discuss alternative hypotheses for the evolutionary maintenance of the elaborate female tail plumage.