Social manipulations trigger shifts in group-level dominance patterns
4 affiliations
- 1Department of Biological Sciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States of America
- 2Department of Biological Sciences, Thomas More University, Crestview Hills, Kentucky, United States of America
- 3Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, University of California–Berkeley, Berkeley, California, United States of America
- 4Second Nature Ecology & Design LLC, Berkeley, California, United States of America
Abstract
Within dominance hierarchies, individuals often direct aggression based on their own rank and the rank of others. When many group members make the same rank-informed aggression decisions, a broader group-level “dominance pattern” can emerge which further structures aggression within the framework of the dominance hierarchy. However, whether groups can change their group-level dominance patterns over time, and what factors might drive these changes, are not well understood. We investigated aggression dynamics by experimentally manipulating captive groups of monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) using targeted rank-based removals and reintroductions of group members to induce social instability. Dominance patterns often shifted after experimental perturbations but remained stable in their absence. The rank of the perturbed individual affected both individual aggression decisions and the shifts in dominance patterns observed. In particular, reintroductions of top-ranked birds led to marked changes in aggression and shifts in dominance patterns. Understanding the factors that shape these dynamics can help explain how animal societies respond to social disturbance. Author summary: Animals in social groups interact with each other and these interactions shape their social structure. Many species are structured by rank and dominance hierarchies. Rather than interacting randomly, animals may choose their fights based on information about each other’s ranks, using dominance patterns. For example, animals may choose fights with similarly-ranked individuals or with individuals ranked much lower than themselves. While these patterns occur across many animal species, it is not clear whether they can change over time within a group. To test this, we removed and reintroduced individual monk parakeets of different ranks in captive groups. We found that dominance patterns did shift and that changes were affected by rank: the reintroduction of top-ranked birds resulted in groups changing their dominance pattern to “bullying” where they switched to fighting individuals ranked far below themselves. Our results showed that parakeet social behavior is flexible and can respond to perturbations and that rank is an important factor in these changes. Understanding the factors that drives these dynamics can help identify when social structures are stable or more likely to reorganize.
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BibTeX
@article{marel2026social,
title = {{Social manipulations trigger shifts in group-level dominance patterns}},
author = {Annemarie van der Marel and Xavier Francis and Claire L. O’Connell and Cesar O. Estien and Chelsea Carminito and V. Darby Moore and Elizabeth A. Hobson},
journal = {PLOS Computational Biology},
year = {2026},
month = nov,
doi = {10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014875},
url = {https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014875},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Social manipulations trigger shifts in group-level dominance patterns
AU - Annemarie van der Marel
AU - Xavier Francis
AU - Claire L. O’Connell
AU - Cesar O. Estien
AU - Chelsea Carminito
AU - V. Darby Moore
AU - Elizabeth A. Hobson
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/11/05
JO - PLOS Computational Biology
DO - 10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014875
UR - https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1014875
AB - Within dominance hierarchies, individuals often direct aggression based on their own rank and the rank of others. When many group members make the same rank-informed aggression decisions, a broader group-level “dominance pattern” can emerge which further structures aggression within the framework of the dominance hierarchy. However, whether groups can change their group-level dominance patterns over time, and what factors might drive these changes, are not well understood. We investigated aggression dynamics by experimentally manipulating captive groups of monk parakeets (Myiopsitta monachus) using targeted rank-based removals and reintroductions of group members to induce social instability. Dominance patterns often shifted after experimental perturbations but remained stable in their absence. The rank of the perturbed individual affected both individual aggression decisions and the shifts in dominance patterns observed. In particular, reintroductions of top-ranked birds led to marked changes in aggression and shifts in dominance patterns. Understanding the factors that shape these dynamics can help explain how animal societies respond to social disturbance. Author summary: Animals in social groups interact with each other and these interactions shape their social structure. Many species are structured by rank and dominance hierarchies. Rather than interacting randomly, animals may choose their fights based on information about each other’s ranks, using dominance patterns. For example, animals may choose fights with similarly-ranked individuals or with individuals ranked much lower than themselves. While these patterns occur across many animal species, it is not clear whether they can change over time within a group. To test this, we removed and reintroduced individual monk parakeets of different ranks in captive groups. We found that dominance patterns did shift and that changes were affected by rank: the reintroduction of top-ranked birds resulted in groups changing their dominance pattern to “bullying” where they switched to fighting individuals ranked far below themselves. Our results showed that parakeet social behavior is flexible and can respond to perturbations and that rank is an important factor in these changes. Understanding the factors that drives these dynamics can help identify when social structures are stable or more likely to reorganize.
SN - 1553-7358
ER -