Definition
An aggregation refers to both the process of grouping and the resulting spatial gathering of animals.
Introduction
Animal aggregations are the most basic form of social life, on top of which more elaborated social behaviors, such as cooperation and division of labor, have evolved. Aggregations are observed across the animal kingdom, from insects all the way to humans. Depending on the developmental stages of animals and the environmental conditions, aggregations can take various forms. They can count just a few individuals or several millions, involve physical contacts or only spatial proximity, be spatially stable or move, and last a few seconds or persist for a long time. Additionally, aggregations can have a stable composition or show a regular turnover of individuals.
Passive Versus Active Aggregations
Two broad types of aggregations are generally considered (Parrish and Edelstein-Keshet 1999). Passive aggregations refer to groups that develop in response to...
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Fouche, Q., Charabidze, D., Lihoreau, M. (2019). Aggregation. In: Vonk, J., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Animal Cognition and Behavior. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_681-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-47829-6_681-1
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