Harvester ants use interactions to regulate forager activation and availability.
Harvester ants use interactions to regulate forager activation and availability.
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DOI：
10.1016/j.anbehav.2013.05.012
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发表时间：
2013-07
期刊：
影响因子：
2.5
通讯作者：
Gordon, Deborah M.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Pinter-Wollman, Noa;Bala, Ashwin;Merrell, Andrew;Queirolo, Jovel;Stumpe, Martin C.;Holmes, Susan;Gordon, Deborah M.
关键词：
社会团体利用在不同时间尺度运作的行为过程之间的反馈，在对环境变化的集体反应中平衡灵活性和稳健性。在这里，我们研究了在两个时间尺度上运行的行为过程如何调节收割机蚂蚁Pogonomyrmex barbatus的群体的觅食活动，使它们能够平衡对食物可获得性和捕食的反应。先前的研究表明，觅食者带着食物返回巢的速度会影响觅食者离开巢的速度。为了研究巢内的相互作用如何将返回和外出觅食者的比率联系起来，我们使用一种新的观察方法，在野外蜂群中观察了外出觅食者。我们发现，外出觅食者在巢内经历的互动率与觅食者返回率相对应，并且外出觅食者之间的互动在空间上是聚集的。一只觅食者的激活发生在几秒钟的时间尺度上：一只觅食者在与返回的觅食者的互动大幅增加后，以3-8的比分离开了巢穴S。外出觅食者可被激活的时间按分钟进行调整：当觅食者返回被中断超过4-5分钟时，在巢门口附近等待的可用觅食者进入巢中更深的地方。因此，觅食者的活跃度和可获得性都随着觅食者返回巢的速度而增加。这一过程通过采食者激活和采食者可用性之间的负反馈来检查。在秒的时间尺度上调节觅食活动提供了对食物丰度波动的反应的灵活性，而在分钟尺度上调节觅食的可用性提供了对诸如捕食等持续干扰的响应的稳健性。
Social groups balance flexibility and robustness in their collective response to environmental changes using feedback between behavioural processes that operate at different timescales. Here we examine how behavioural processes operating at two timescales regulate the foraging activity of colonies of the harvester ant, Pogonomyrmex barbatus, allowing them to balance their response to food availability and predation. Previous work showed that the rate at which foragers return to the nest with food influences the rate at which foragers leave the nest. To investigate how interactions inside the nest link the rates of returning and outgoing foragers, we observed outgoing foragers inside the nest in field colonies using a novel observation method. We found that the interaction rate experienced by outgoing foragers inside the nest corresponded to forager return rate, and that the interactions of outgoing foragers were spatially clustered. Activation of a forager occurred on the timescale of seconds: a forager left the nest 3–8 s after a substantial increase in interactions with returning foragers. The availability of outgoing foragers to become activated was adjusted on the timescale of minutes: when forager return was interrupted for more than 4–5 min, available foragers waiting near the nest entrance went deeper into the nest. Thus, forager activation and forager availability both increased with the rate at which foragers returned to the nest. This process was checked by negative feedback between forager activation and forager availability. Regulation of foraging activation on the timescale of seconds provides flexibility in response to fluctuations in food abundance, whereas regulation of forager availability on the timescale of minutes provides robustness in response to sustained disturbance such as predation.
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DOI：
10.1098/rstb.2011.0214
发表时间：
2012-07-05
期刊：
Philosophical transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological sciences
影响因子：
--
作者：
Flack JC
通讯作者：
Flack JC
影响因子：
2.4
作者：
Cole, Blaine J.;Smith, Adrian A.;Wiernasz, Diane C.
通讯作者：
Wiernasz, Diane C.
影响因子：
2.4
作者：
Gordon, Deborah M.;Holmes, Susan;Nacu, Serban
通讯作者：
Nacu, Serban
影响因子：
3.7
作者：
Greene, Michael J.;Pinter-Wollman, Noa;Gordon, Deborah M.
通讯作者：
Gordon, Deborah M.
影响因子：
2.9
作者：
ADLER, FR;GORDON, DM
通讯作者：
GORDON, DM