Environmental effects on sociality in cooperatively breeding species

The costs and benefits of cooperation in cooperatively breeding species have been studied intensively over the last decades. However, how changing environments (both spatially and temporally) influence levels of cooperation and sociality within species has not yet been fully answered. I aim to resolve this lack of knowledge using 2 main study species: the highly social cichlid Neolamprologus pulcher and the cooperatively breeding Seychelles warbler. Using a combination of (long term) field data and laboratory experiments, I will try to answer how environmental variation affects ecology, the cost and benefits of cooperation and aspects of sociality.