The differences in individual distance of these species in this situation may be related to the dispersion patterns in their natural populations. Home Understanding the relative sociability of a species can be critical to analysis of its social systems. The intraspecific social interactions of individuals within a population may lead to a characteristic social organization for a given species. The quantity and quality of interactions vary widely, but the sum of interactions may be described as attraction or repulsion among animals. When these sums or forces are in balance, we may see a characteristic dispersion pattern.
Dispersion becomes greater as individual distances increase.
Social behavior thus involves space as a component. When animals maintain wide spacing, we consider them unsociable, and when close together, more sociable or gregarious. Species of rodents vary widely in their sociability. The sociability associated with each species may, however, be a function of the situation in which they are observed. I am interested in effects of various environmental and genetic factors on sociability in different species of Peromyscus .