The study of social animal migrations: a synthesis of the past and guidelines for future research

TL;DR

This paper reviews how social factors influence animal migrations and offers guidelines for better future research.

Contribution

The paper provides a synthesis of existing studies and proposes new guidelines for studying social animal migrations.

Findings

Social interactions are widely studied among migrating species.

Combining specific methods provides strong evidence of social influences during migration.

Abstract

Seasonal migration is a common behaviour seen in many species worldwide. There is evidence that social factors influence various migration decisions, but compared to the well-studied field of social foraging, the study of social animal migration is still underdeveloped. Nevertheless, a few innovative studies have shown the impact of social influences on migrating animals using different tools and techniques. In this review, we systematically examined the literature to identify what makes a strong study in the field of social animal migration. We synthesized existing literature to provide advice that can improve study design and the conclusions drawn for future studies on social migration. Our analysis revealed that social interactions are widely studied among migrating species. We identified methods and approaches that, when combined correctly, provide strong evidence of social influences during migration. Finally, based on the strengths and shortcomings of past studies, we propose a set of guidelines to create more robust studies on social animal migrations.

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