RESULTS: Here, we determined the genetic identity of all giant panda individuals in a local population and matched these identities with their associations to determine social network of this solitary animal. Total thirty-five giant panda individuals were found in our field survey, and we constructed genetic and social networks for thirty-three individuals who successfully obtained genetic, age and sex information. The results showed that sex had great impact on both social network and genetic network, and age may have the potential to influence the social network of the giant pandas. Adult males, mostly in the central of the social network, which appeared significantly larger network connections than adult females. Due to the female-biased dispersal pattern of wild giant pandas, male-male pairs showed higher relatedness than female-female ones and multi-generational patrilinear assemblages are expected in the study area.
CONCLUSIONS: The relatedness of individuals has an influence on the formation of community social structure of giant pandas, and indirect interactions among solitary giant pandas potentially function to reduce competition for resources and inbreeding.
结果:这里,我们确定了当地种群中所有大熊猫个体的遗传身份,并将这些身份与它们的关联进行匹配,以确定这只孤独动物的社会网络。我们的野外调查共发现35只大熊猫,我们为33个成功获得遗传的个体构建了遗传和社会网络,年龄和性别信息。结果表明,性别对社会网络和遗传网络都有很大的影响,和年龄可能会影响大熊猫的社交网络。成年男性,主要是在社交网络的中心,与成年女性相比,网络连接明显更大。由于野生大熊猫的雌性偏散模式,男性-男性对显示出比女性-女性对更高的亲缘关系,并且在研究区域中预计会出现多代父系组合。
结论:个体的亲缘关系对大熊猫群落社会结构的形成有影响,和单独大熊猫之间的间接相互作用可能会减少对资源的竞争和近亲繁殖。