Conceptual representations of animal social networks: an overview

Networks are now widely used to represent, quantify and model animal behaviour. These approaches have proved valuable in linking individual behaviours to emergent population level patterns and quantifying the implications of these population structures for wider ecological and evolutionary processes. However, there are diverse conceptual representations of network data and choosing the right tool to answer a particular question can be challenging. Here I provide an overview of different network representations, highlighting their potential applications in behavioural ecology and drawing attention to key resources to help with their implementation. My aim is to provide an accessible guide that helps behavioural ecologists take full advantage of the potential of the different ways in which their data can be used to generate social other networks. (c) 2023 The Author. Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of The Association for the Study of Animal Behaviour. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).

Automated summary

Networks are widely used in animal behavior research to represent, quantify, and model behavior patterns. Different conceptual representations of network data exist, making it challenging to choose the appropriate tool to answer a specific question. An overview of different network representations is provided, emphasizing their potential applications in behavioral ecology and highlighting key resources for implementation. The aim is to assist behavioral ecologists in effectively utilizing the various ways their data can generate social and other networks.