Collaborative Proposal: RUI: Dynamic ant networks: How environmental constraints and ecological context shape resource transport systems

合作提案：RUI：动态蚂蚁网络：环境约束和生态背景如何塑造资源运输系统

基本信息

批准号：
1755425
负责人：
Matina Donaldson-Matasci
金额：
$ 36.49万
依托单位：
Harvey Mudd College
依托单位国家：
美国
项目类别：
Standard Grant
财政年份：
2018
资助国家：
美国
起止时间：
2018-06-15 至 2025-05-31
项目状态：
未结题

来源：
https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1755425&HistoricalAwards=false
关键词：
Collaborative Proposal RUI Dynamic ant

项目摘要

Many ants distribute their colony members and resources across multiple nests; movement between nests is maintained by a network of persistent trails. These ant transportation systems, common among beneficial and pest species, are similar to human transportation systems in many ways. Like subway systems and road networks, their goal is to move resources and individuals quickly and efficiently from place to place. Having alternative routes within a transportation system can make travel faster and more reliable, especially following disruptions or backlogs on particular routes. Yet extra routes cost additional resources. Designing an efficient and reliable transportation system at minimal cost is a difficult problem even for human engineers, who can take a system-wide perspective. Ant colonies, in contrast, build their transportation networks with no central vision or overarching plan. Certain species are nonetheless able to create systems that are remarkably reliable, efficient, and low-cost. This research will develop a new framework to explain how ant colonies create such well-functioning transportation systems via a process of gradual modification rather than design. Undergraduates, graduate students and two postdoctoral researchers will be mentored as part of an interdisciplinary, international team. High school students from groups underrepresented in STEM will be mentored by undergraduates with guidance from the PIs. This research could help inspire new management strategies for invasive ant pests, and new design algorithms for human transportation systems. Results will be shared with the public via a series of short films, exhibits and presentations at Florida state parks, and an established undergraduate-authored blog.Despite the ubiquity of biological and human-engineered transportation networks, there is no unifying framework for predicting how they respond dynamically and adaptively to external pressures in a way that balances infrastructure cost, transportation efficiency, and robustness. The central objective of the project is to develop a general theory for how environmental constraints and opportunities shape dynamic transportation networks, emphasizing the interactions between network structure and function. A generative agent-based network approach will be used to create a general model of dynamic transportation networks. The model will explore how networks respond effectively to environmental challenges via processes of dynamic network restructuring that operate under a range of ecological constraints. The model will be parameterized and tested initially with existing data for terrestrial wood-ant networks, and refined based on the results. Predictions will then be generated by the model for the substantially different region of the parameter space occupied by arboreal turtle ants, and tested with new field data on turtle ant network structure and usage. Finally, the model will be challenged with field and laboratory experiments using turtle ants, where the dynamic response of their transportation network will be tracked following changes to resource distributions, disturbance patterns, and spatial constraints. The project targets the development of theory with the potential to unify research on dynamic transportation networks across biological systems, with possible applications to a variety of natural and human problems.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

许多蚂蚁在多个巢穴中分发了殖民地成员和资源。巢之间的移动是通过持续步道网络维持的。这些蚂蚁运输系统在有益和有害生物物种中常见，在许多方面都与人类运输系统相似。像地铁系统和道路网络一样，他们的目标是在到处快速有效地移动资源和个人。在运输系统中拥有替代路线可以使旅行速度更快，更可靠，尤其是在特定路线上的干扰或积压之后。然而，额外的路线花费了额外的资源。即使对于人类工程师来说，以最低的成本设计高效且可靠的运输系统也是一个困难的问题，他们可以采用全系统的视角。相比之下，蚂蚁殖民地没有中央愿景或总体计划建立其运输网络。尽管如此，某些物种仍然能够创建非常可靠，高效和低成本的系统。这项研究将开发一个新的框架，以解释蚂蚁菌落如何通过逐步修改而不是设计的过程来创建功能良好的运输系统。本科生，研究生和两名博士后研究人员将作为跨学科的国际团队的一部分进行指导。来自STEM中人数不足的小组的高中生将在PIS的指导下由本科生指导。这项研究可以帮助激发侵入性蚂蚁害虫的新管理策略，以及针对人类运输系统的新设计算法。结果将通过一系列短片，展品和演讲与佛罗里达州立公园的展览和演讲以及一个既定的本科生的博客共享。尽管如此，尽管生物和人类工程运输网络的无处不在，但没有统一的框架，可以预测它们如何在平衡效率上，以使他们如何在平衡效率上进行动态压力，以预测它们的压力，并构成运输效率。该项目的核心目的是开发一个通用理论，说明环境约束和机会如何塑造动态运输网络，强调网络结构与功能之间的相互作用。基于生成代理的网络方法将用于创建动态传输网络的通用模型。该模型将通过在一系列生态约束下运行的动态网络重组过程来探讨网络如何有效地应对环境挑战。该模型最初将通过陆地木材网络的现有数据进行参数化和测试，并根据结果进行完善。然后，该模型将对树木乌龟蚂蚁占据的参数空间的基本不同区域产生预测，并通过有关龟蚂蚁网络结构和用法的新田间数据进行了测试。最后，该模型将通过使用乌龟蚂蚁进行现场和实验室实验来挑战，在此，在对资源分布，干扰模式和空间约束的更改之后，将跟踪其运输网络的动态响应。该项目针对理论的发展，有可能统一跨生物系统的动态运输网络的研究，并可能应用于各种自然和人类问题。该奖项反映了NSF的法定任务，并被认为是值得通过基金会的知识分子优点和更广泛的影响审查标准通过评估来获得支持的。