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bioRxiv · 10.1101/2021.04.12.439517

The Kinship Matrix: Inferring the Kinship Structure of a Population from its Demography

Coste, C. F. D.·Bienvenu, F.·Ronget, V.·Cubaynes, S.·Pavard, S.
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Abstract

The familial structure of a population and the relatedness of its individuals are determined by its demography. There is, however, no general method to infer kinship directly from the life-cycle of a structured population. Yet this question is central to fields such as ecology, evolution and conservation, especially in contexts where there is a strong interdependence between familial structure and population dynamics. Here, we give a general formula to compute, from any matrix population model, the expected number of arbitrary kin (sisters, nieces, cousins, etc) of a focal individual ego, structured by the class of ego and of its kin. Central to our approach are classic but little-used tools known as genealogical matrices. Our method can be used to obtain both individual-based and population-wide metrics of kinship, as we illustrate. It also makes it possible to analyze the sensitivity of the kinship structure to the traits implemented in the model.

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Coste, C. F. D., Bienvenu, F., Ronget, V., Cubaynes, S., Pavard, S.. 2021-04-12. The Kinship Matrix: Inferring the Kinship Structure of a Population from its Demography. https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.04.12.439517

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