ABSTRACT
We can define interactions within a network based on an array of behaviours or associations. For example, when probing the social structure of freshwater fish, we may want to look at the network of feeding, aggression, co-operation or mating interactions. Understanding the structure of these multiple networks will allow us to build a model of social behaviour that incorporates multiple influences on social structure. For example, we can look at how associations during foraging behaviour influence mating interactions or co-operative interactions. Thus, the network approach begins to provide a way of understanding and integrating behaviour and behavioural interactions. A recent study by Jessica Flack and colleagues (2006) gives an interesting example of how the network approach can be used. Flack et al. (2006) employed the network approach to characterize the social organization of a group of monkeys, making full use of several novel statistical descriptors that allow a detailed assessment of the social relationships between individuals. A removal experiment demonstrated that the presence of several highranking individuals was essential to retain group cohesion and that the social network fractured into several subunits in their absence due to increased levels of conflict between individuals. The network tools provide
sensitive measures of both individual-and group-level characteristics, which it would be hard to measure and analyse while taking a network approach.
