Advancing cooperative breeding research with a peer-reviewed and "live" Cooperative-Breeding Database (Co-BreeD)

Abstract

Research on cooperative breeding (a system with the core characteristic of individuals providing care for the offspring of others) is important for understanding sociality and cooperation. However, large-scale comparative analyses on the drivers and consequences of cooperation frequently use considerably inaccurate datasets (e.g. due to inconsistent definitions and outdated information). To advance comparative research on cooperative breeding, we introduce the Cooperative-Breeding Database (Co-BreeD), a growing database of key socio-biological parameters of birds and mammals. First, we describe Co-BreeDs structure as a (i) sample-based (i.e. multiple samples per species linked to an exact sampling location and period), (ii) peer-reviewed and (iii) updatable resource. Respectively, these curating principles allow for (i) investigating intra- and inter-species variation and linking between fine-scale social and environmental parameters, (ii) accuracy and (iii) continuous correction and expansion with the publication of new data. Second, we present the first Co-BreeD dataset, which estimates the prevalence of breeding events with potential alloparents in 265 samples from 233 populations of 150 species, including 2 human societies (N = 26,366 breeding events). We conclude by demonstrating (i) how Co-BreeD facilitates more accurate comparative research (e.g. increased explanatory power by enabling the study of cooperative breeding as a continuous trait, and statistically accounting for the sampling error probabilities), and (ii) that cooperative breeding in birds and mammals is more prevalent than currently estimated.