Examining how multilevel population dynamics and climate influence breeding behaviour, within-group stability and demography in a cooperatively breeding bird

Cooperative breeders are socially complex, with group members interacting more frequently with one another than other members of the population; hence their population dynamics may differ from those of non-cooperative species. While the costs and benefits associated with cooperative group-living may influence population dynamics, this parameter has not been integrated with predictions about the impact of climate change on populations. In this thesis I use a combination of short­-term behavioural and long-term life history data to examine concurrent influences of intrinsic social factors and climatic perturbations on the population dynamics of a cooperative breeder, the Southern pied babbler (Turdoides bicolor).