Passing Review: how the R-index aims to improve the peer-review system by quantifying reviewer contributions.

Peer review is flawed. Look no further than the storm of attention over sexist reviewer comments. A new index proposes a simple way to create transparency and quality control mechanisms. Shane Gero and Maurício Cantor believe that giving citable recognition to reviewers can improve the system by encouraging more participation but also higher quality, constructive input, without the need for a loss of anonymity

Abundance estimate of Eastern Caribbean sperm whales using large scale regional surveys

This research was funded by the National Geographic Society (NGS-62320R-19-2), the Agoa Sanctuary, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada, and the Animal Behavior Society and approved by the Dalhousie University Committee on Laboratory Animals.Peer reviewe

Cultural turnover among Galápagos sperm whales

Funding: Marine Alliance for Science and Technology for Scotland pooling initiative, which is funded by the Scottish Funding Council (#HR09011) and contributing institutions.While populations may wax and wane, it is rare for an entire population to be replaced by a completely different set of individuals. We document the large-scale relocation of cultural groups of sperm whale off the Galápagos Islands, in which two sympatric vocal clans were entirely replaced by two different ones. Between 1985 and 1999, whales from two clans (called Regular and Plus-One) defined by cultural dialects in coda vocalizations were repeatedly photo-identified off Galápagos. Their occurrence in the area declined through the 1990s; by 2000, none remained. We reassessed Galápagos sperm whales in 2013–2014, identifying 463 new females. However, re-sighting rates were low, with no matches with the Galápagos 1985–1999 population, suggesting an eastward shift to coastal areas. Their vocal repertoires matched those of two other clans (called Short and Four-Plus) found across the Pacific but previously rare or absent around Galápagos. The mechanisms behind this cultural turnover may include large-scale environmental regime shifts favouring clan-specific foraging strategies, and a response to heavy whaling in the region involving redistribution of surviving whales into high-quality habitats. The fall and rise of sperm whale cultures off Galápagos reflect the structuring of the Pacific population into large, enduring clans with dynamic ranges. Long-lasting clan membership illustrates how culture can be bound up in the structure and dynamics of animal populations and so how tracking cultural traits can reveal large-scale population shifts.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Using identity calls to detect structure in acoustic datasets

1.  Acoustic analyses can be powerful tools for illuminating structure within and between populations, especially for cryptic or difficult to access taxa. Acoustic repertoires are often compared using aggregate similarity measures across all calls of a particular type, but specific group identity calls may more clearly delineate structure in some taxa. 2.  We present a new method-the identity call method-that estimates the number of acoustically distinct subdivisions in a set of repertoires and identifies call types that characterize those subdivisions. The method uses contaminated mixture models to identify call types, assigning each call a probability of belonging to each type. Repertoires are hierarchically clustered based on similarities in call type usage, producing a dendrogram with 'identity clades' of repertoires and the (identity calls) that best characterize each clade. We validated this approach using acoustic data from sperm whales, grey-breasted wood-wrens, and Australian field crickets, and ran a suite of tests to assess parameter sensitivity. 3.  For all taxa, the method detected diagnostic signals (identity calls) and structure (identity clades; sperm whale subpopulations, wren subspecies, and cricket species) that were consistent with past research. Some datasets were more sensitive to parameter variation than others, which may reflect real uncertainty or biological variability in the taxa examined. We recommend that users perform comparative analyses of different parameter combinations to determine which portions of the dendrogram warrant careful versus confident interpretation. 4.  The presence of group-characteristic identity calls does not necessarily mean animals perceive them as such. Fine scale experiments like playbacks are a key next step to understand call perception and function. This method can help inform such studies by identifying calls that may be salient to animals and are good candidates for investigation or playback stimuli. For cryptic or difficult to access taxa with group-specific calls, the identity call method can aid managers in quantifying behavioural diversity and/or identifying putative structure within and between populations, given that acoustic data can be inexpensive and minimally invasive to collect.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Distinctive, fine‐scale distribution of Eastern Caribbean sperm whale vocal clans reflects island fidelity rather than environmental variables

This research would not have been possible without support from our partners: CARIMAM and the University of the West Indies, and funders: the National Geographic Society (NGS-62320R-19-2), the AGOA Sanctuary, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), and the Animal Behavior Society.Environmental variables are often the primary drivers of species' distributions as they define their niche. However, individuals, or groups of individuals, may sometimes adopt a limited range within this larger suitable habitat as a result of social and cultural processes. This is the case for Eastern Caribbean sperm whales. While environmental variables are reasonably successful in describing the general distribution of sperm whales in the region, individuals from different cultural groups have distinct distributions around the Lesser Antilles islands. Using data collected over 2 years of dedicated surveys in the Eastern Caribbean, we conducted habitat modeling and habitat suitability analyses to investigate the mechanisms responsible for such fine‐scale distribution patterns. Vocal clan‐specific models were dramatically more successful at predicting distribution than general species models, showing how a failure to incorporate social factors can impede accurate predictions. Habitat variation between islands did not explain vocal clan distributions, suggesting that cultural group segregation in the Eastern Caribbean sperm whale is driven by traditions of site/island fidelity (most likely maintained through conformism and homophily) rather than habitat type specialization. Our results provide evidence for the key role of cultural knowledge in shaping habitat use of sperm whales within suitable environmental conditions and highlight the importance of cultural factors in shaping sperm whale ecology. We recommend that social and cultural information be incorporated into conservation and management as culture can segregate populations on fine spatial scales in the absence of environmental variability.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Individualized social preferences and long-term social fidelity between social units of sperm whales

Keywords: association bond pair elephant fidelity group social differentiation social structure sperm whale Long-lived animals across a range of taxa display substantial social complexity that often includes hierarchical modularity of their social structures. A complete understanding of how their social systems function is achieved by understanding not only how individuals interact with each other, but also how their social groups relate to one another. Here, we examine social relationships across two levels of the hierarchical social structure of sperm whales, Physeter macrocephalus. Using an unparalleled data set of nine social units collected across a 6-year study (2005e2010), we calculate social differentiation (0 when relationships are completely homogeneous, and greater than 1 when there is considerable diversity among the relationships) to focus on the diversity of social relationships between the fundamental level of social structure, the unit. We contrast these patterns by comparing patterns between individuals within these units. Social relationships within units are diverse, with a mean social differentiation (S) ± SE of 0.80 ± 0.05 among adult females and 0.91 ± 0.05 when calves are included. Social differentiation was also high between units (1.11 ± 0.06). In addition, we identified long-term patterns of association between units that appear consistent over time, in two cases across more than a decade. Among the nine units, there were three strongly bonded pairs. Social preferences create complexity and diversity in the types of relationships formed at multiple levels of sperm whale social structure and across various timescales. Individuals show preferences for each other across hours, days and years; units form strong long-term bonds across decades; and vocal dialects mark social segregations between sperm whale cultures across generations

Ocean nomads or island specialists? Culturally driven habitat partitioning contrasts in scale between geographically isolated sperm whale populations

This research was funded by the National Geographic Society (grant no. NGS-62320R-19-2), the Agoa Sanctuary, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Animal Behavior Society.The sperm whale (Physeter macrocephalus) is a deep-diving cetacean with a global distribution and a multi-leveled, culturally segregated, social structure. While sperm whales have previously been described as ‘ocean nomads’, this might not be universal. We conducted surveys of sperm whales along the Lesser Antilles to document the acoustic repertoires, movements and distributions of Eastern Caribbean (EC) sperm whale cultural groups (called vocal clans). In addition to documenting a potential third vocal clan in the EC, we found strong evidence of fine-scale habitat partitioning between vocal clans with scales of horizontal movements an order of magnitude smaller than from comparable studies on Eastern Tropical Pacific sperm whales. These results suggest that sperm whales can display cultural ecological specialization and habitat partitioning on flexible spatial scales according to local conditions and broadens our perception of the ecological flexibility of the species. This study highlights the importance of incorporating multiple temporal and spatial scales to understand the impact of culture on ecological adaptability, as well as the dangers of extrapolating results across geographical areas and cultural groups.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Social learning across symbolic cultural barriers in non-human cultures

Social learning is key in the development of both human and non-human animal societies. Here, we provide quantitative evidence that supports the existence of social learning in sperm whales across socio-cultural barriers, based on acoustic data from locations in the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Sperm whale populations have traditionally been partitioned into clans based on their vocal repertoire (what they say) of rhythmically patterned clicks (codas), and in particular their identity codas, which serve as symbolic markers for each clan. However, identity codas account for between 35% and 60% of all codas vocalized depending on the different clans. We introduce a computational modeling approach that recovers clan structure and shows new evidence of social learning across clans from the internal temporal structure of non-identity codas, the remaining fraction of codas. The proposed method is based on vocal style, which encodes how sperm whales assemble individual clicks into codas. Specifically, we modeled clicking pattern data using generative models based on variable length Markov chains, producing what we term "subcoda trees". Based on our results, we propose here a new concept of vocal identity, which consists of both vocal repertoire and style. We show that (i) style-delimited clans are similar to repertoire-delimited clans, and that (ii) sympatry increases vocal style similarity between clans for non-identity codas, but has no significant effect on identity codas. This implies that different clans who geographically overlap have similar styles for most codas, which in turn implies social learning across cultural boundaries. More broadly, the proposed method provides a new framework for comparing communication systems of other animal species, with potential implications for our understanding of cultural transmission in animal societies

Vital Indicators of the Rural and Agricultural Population in the S. R. Croatia — The Demographical Breakdown

Stanovništvo SR Hrvatske nalazi se na kraju razdoblja demografske tranzicije. Godine 1982. imalo je natalitet 14,5 promila, mortalitet 11,0 promila, prirodni priraštaj 3,5 promila, a vitalni indeks 134,4. Ovakvo kretanje biovitalnih stopa rezultat je utjecaja industrijalizacijskih procesa na demografski razvitak, napose deagrarizacije. Postoje tipična seoska područja sa sekularnim trendovima niskog nataliteta, a nagli je pad naročito izražen između dva posljednja popisna razdoblja (1971—1981), tako da je 1981. imalo negativni prirodni priraštaj čak 49 općina, u kojima živi 24% ukupnog stanovništva republike. Na osnovi popisa stanovništva podataka i demografske statistike, autor analizira promjene u demografskim strukturama seoskog i poljoprivrednog stanovništva (po zajednicama općina i regijama), usporedno kretanje reproduktivnih stopa poljoprivrednog i nepoljoprivrednog stanovništva te seoskog i »neseoskog « stanovništva, starenje seoskog i poljoprivrednog stanovništva te obrazovnu strukturu poljoprivrednog stanovništva. Zaključno ističe da je većina seoskog i poljoprivrednog stanovništva u poodmakloj dobi, da je biološko pomlađivanje simbolično, te da su i dalje naglašene aspiracije prema nepoijoprivrednim zanimanjima.The population of the S. R. Croatia is at the end of a period of demographic transition. In 1982 the birth rate was 14.5 per thousand, the death rate 11.0 per thousand, the natural population increase 3.5 per thousand, and the viital index 134.4. This change in biovital rates is the result of the influence of industrialization on demographic development, and in particular the result of deagrarization. Some rural regions have typical age-old trends towards a low birth-rate, but the sudden decrease came to expression especially between the last two censuses (1971—1981), so that as many as 49 communes had a negative natural population increase in 1981. 24% of the total population of the republic lives in these communes. The author uses data from population censuses and demographic statistics to analyze changes in the demographic structure of the rural and agricultural population (according to communities and regions). He compares changes in rates of reproduction between the agricultural and the non-agricultural population, and between the rural and the »non-rural« population, studies the ageing of the rural and agricultural population, and the educational structure of the agricultural population. He concludes that most of the rural and agricultural population is aged, that biological rejuvenation is symbolic, and that aspirations towards noo-agricultural occupationstions are still very strong