Ethological observations on a small group of wintering membersat Dumont d'Urville station (Terre Adélie)

[摘要] The goal of this study was to demonstrate the role of isolation on the social behaviour ofindividuals and to characterize its adaptation as a function of time. The ethological method used was aquantitative description of the spatial positioning of a sub-group of 13 wintering members during themorning, midday and evening meals at Dumont d'Urville station. The observation protocol required thecompletion of first daily and then weekly (every Thursday) observation maps at different stages of the13 month long polar mission, from the information seminar in France, the trips outward and return aboardthe Astrolabe, the two summer campaigns at the beginning and at the end of the mission and theoverwintering period. Results, mainly expressed as human concentration and spatial dispersion indexes,have successively shown organization, disorganization and reorganization periods of the small groupwithout any significant cycling. Socialisation rules promoting the group building in the early period, conflictfactors and relay steps (external perturbations breaking the isolation, transitions during group displacementfrom one stage to another) promoting the maintenance of the social cohesion, are outlined in the discussion.

[学科分类] 自然科学（综合）