Nest choice in arboreal ants is an emergent consequence of network creation under spatial constraints
Nest choice in arboreal ants is an emergent consequence of network creation under spatial constraints
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DOI：
10.1007/s11721-021-00187-5
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发表时间：
2021-04-24
影响因子：
2.6
通讯作者：
Donaldson-Matasci, Matina C.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Chang, Joanna;Powell, Scott;Donaldson-Matasci, Matina C.
生物运输网络必须平衡相互竞争的功能优先级。用于生成这种网络的自组织机制激发了可扩展算法来构建和维护低成本和高效的人类设计的传输网络。基于信息素的蚂蚁踪迹网络在这方面特别有价值。在这里，我们使用海龟蚂蚁作为我们的焦点系统：与通常用作自组织网络模型的蚂蚁物种相反，这些蚂蚁生活在空间受限的树栖环境中，其中嵌套选择和连接路径都是有限的。因此，他们必须解决一系列独特的挑战，这些挑战类似于受现有基础设施限制的人类运输工程师所面临的挑战。在这里，我们问海龟蚁群的选择，包括在网络中的巢穴可能会影响他们的潜力，以创建连接到其他巢穴。在实验室实验中与Ceatrites varians和Ceatrites texanus，我们表明，巢的选择是受空间限制，但意想不到的方式。在一个空间配置下，殖民地优先占据更多的连接巢址，然而，在另一个空间配置下，这种偏好消失。这些实验的结果相比，基于代理的模型，我们表明，这种明显的特质之间的关系巢连接和巢的选择可以出现没有巢的偏好，通过结合自我强化随机运动沿着约束路径和密度依赖聚集在巢。虽然这一机制并不总是导致重新建设低成本、高效率的运输网络，但如果与修剪和重组进程相结合，它可能是扩大网络的有效途径。
Biological transportation networks must balance competing functional priorities. The self-organizing mechanisms used to generate such networks have inspired scalable algorithms to construct and maintain low-cost and efficient human-designed transport networks. The pheromone-based trail networks of ants have been especially valuable in this regard. Here, we use turtle ants as our focal system: In contrast to the ant species usually used as models for self-organized networks, these ants live in a spatially constrained arboreal environment where both nesting options and connecting pathways are limited. Thus, they must solve a distinct set of challenges which resemble those faced by human transport engineers constrained by existing infrastructure. Here, we ask how a turtle ant colony's choice of which nests to include in a network may be influenced by their potential to create connections to other nests. In laboratory experiments with Cephalotes varians and Cephalotes texanus, we show that nest choice is influenced by spatial constraints, but in unexpected ways. Under one spatial configuration, colonies preferentially occupied more connected nest sites; however, under another spatial configuration, this preference disappeared. Comparing the results of these experiments to an agent-based model, we demonstrate that this apparently idiosyncratic relationship between nest connectivity and nest choice can emerge without nest preferences via a combination of self-reinforcing random movement along constrained pathways and density-dependent aggregation at nests. While this mechanism does not consistently lead to the de-novo construction of low-cost, efficient transport networks, it may be an effective way to expand a network, when coupled with processes of pruning and restructuring.