Learning, climate and the evolution of cultural capacity
Journal Of Theoretical Biology, 245 (2):
341--350 (2007)Abstract
Patterns of environmental variation influence the utility, and thus
evolution, of different learning strategies. I use stochastic. individual-based
evolutionary models to assess the relative advantages of 15 different
learning strategies (genetic determination, individual learning,
vertical social learning, horizontal/oblique social learning, and
contingent combinations of these) when competing in variable environments
described by I/f noise. When environmental variation has little effect
on fitness, then genetic determinism persists. When environmental
variation is large and equal over all time-scales ("white noise")
then individual learning is adaptive. Social learning is advantageous
in "red noise" environments when variation over long time-scales
is large. Climatic variability increases with time-scale, so that
short-lived organisms should be able to rely largely on genetic determination.
Thermal climates usually are insufficiently red for social learning
to be advantageous for species whose fitness is very determined by
temperature. In contrast, population trajectories of many species,
especially large mammals and aquatic carnivores, are sufficiently
red to promote social learning in their predators. The ocean environment
is generally redder than that on land. Thus, while individual learning
should be adaptive for many longer-lived organisms, social learning
will often be found in those dependent on the populations of other
species, especially if they are marine. This provides a potential
explanation for the evolution of a prevalence of social learning,
and culture, in humans and cetaceans. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All
rights reserved.