Mathematical Modeling of Role Selection Dynamics Among Obligate Cooperative Breeders
Disciplines
Applied Mathematics | Biology | Mathematics | Physical Sciences and Mathematics | Research Methods in Life Sciences
Abstract (300 words maximum)
Cooperative breeding is a social system in which individuals, often called helpers, forgo reproduction to provide alloparental care to young. By expending energy and delaying reproduction, helpers provide care at a personal fitness cost. This motivates an important evolutionary question: under what conditions is it beneficial to act altruistically rather than selfishly in a cooperatively breeding social group? To address this question, we developed a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that combine population dynamics with game-theoretic role selection dynamics in a population of obligate cooperative breeders where each individual can choose one of two roles: breeder or helper. We studied our model using a combination of mathematical analysis and MATLAB simulations. Through this analysis, we determined conditions under which the population persists or dies off.
Academic department under which the project should be listed
CSM - Mathematics
Primary Investigator (PI) Name
Glenn Young
Mathematical Modeling of Role Selection Dynamics Among Obligate Cooperative Breeders
Cooperative breeding is a social system in which individuals, often called helpers, forgo reproduction to provide alloparental care to young. By expending energy and delaying reproduction, helpers provide care at a personal fitness cost. This motivates an important evolutionary question: under what conditions is it beneficial to act altruistically rather than selfishly in a cooperatively breeding social group? To address this question, we developed a system of ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that combine population dynamics with game-theoretic role selection dynamics in a population of obligate cooperative breeders where each individual can choose one of two roles: breeder or helper. We studied our model using a combination of mathematical analysis and MATLAB simulations. Through this analysis, we determined conditions under which the population persists or dies off.