Evolution of cooperation based on relatedness, negotiation and trading
All
major transitions in the evolution of life are characterized by the
necessity of cooperation and sacrifice of constituent parts transforming
into higher complexity.
Conceptually,
the evolution of cooperation seems to be well understood. However,
critical tests of the predictions from alternative mechanisms
responsible for the establishment
of evolutionarily stable levels of cooperation hardly exist. For
instance, the seemingly overwhelming evidence for the importance of kin
selection to the evolution of altruism is almost entirely correlational.
Few studies have manipulated relatedness and measured
behavioural responses and corresponding fitness effects, and several
have found that relatedness in fact
hampers cooperative behaviour instead of promoting it, opposite
to predictions from kin selection theory. The relative significance of
alternative mechanisms in addition to kin selection, such as negotiation
and reciprocal trading, to explain cooperation
in nature is as yet unclear. In this project we aim to develop and
experimentally test predictions regarding the relative and interactive
influence of relatedness and negotiation/trading on cooperation between
social partners.
Our
previous work has suggested that mutual help and trading of service and
commodities are important and widespread variants of cooperative
interactions among animals,
which can elicit high levels of evolutionary stable cooperation. A
crucial parameter in reciprocal trading is the potential
time delay between subsequent interactions among social partners,
because this affects the perceived or true probability to receive
returns for provided help. One aim of this project will be to vary the
time axis of social decisions between concurrency
and delays of different magnitude to span the entire range from
coaction to long-term reciprocity. Another important issue is that in
nature most social interactions involve some sort of asymmetry between
concerned individuals, regardless whether this is sex,
age, dominance status, body condition, individual quality, need,
resource holding potential, reproductive status, residual reproductive
value, etc. Consequently, in virtually any social interaction the
involved individuals have different abilities and expectations
about potential pay-offs from the interaction. The current project aims
to experimentally scrutinize the
significance of asymmetries for the negotiation process between social partners about their respective cooperative effort.
Hitherto,
effects of experimental manipulation of cooperation on direct and
indirect components of fitness have hardly been scrutinized. We aim at
estimating
fitness effects of experimentally controlled cooperative
behaviour in natural and semi-natural settings by manipulating at the
same time relatedness and the negotiation rules applied by all involved
parties. Our model organisms will be
wild-type Norway rats and cooperatively breeding Lake Tanganyika cichlids.
Within the framework of this SNF-funded project, we offer
one post-doc and three PhD-positions. We seek highly-motivated
and well organised candidates who can work independently as well as
drive collaborative projects. Scientific curiosity is a must and good
English language skills are important. Previous experience
with studying animal behaviour is mandatory. The PhD-applicants will
need an MSc-degree (or equivalent) in biology. Applications must include
a letter of motivation, CV, list of publications, copy of degree
certificates, and two names of referees who should
have sent their recommendation letter separately before the mentioned
deadline. Applications should be submitted before
Wednesday 25 October 2017
by e-mail (all documents merged into one PDF file) to
Claudia.Leiser@iee.unibe.ch.
Late
applications will be considered until all positions are filled. Starting
date of all positions is as soon as possible. Duration of contracts is
up to 3 years.
Principal investigator: Prof. Dr. Michael Taborsky
Behavioural Ecology Division, Institute of Ecology and Evolution