Building Your Home One Grain at Time: How Construction, Function and Robustness of Fire Ant Nests Depend on Ground Properties

在这个项目中，PI将使用实验室实验和模拟系统地研究火蚁（Solenopsis invicta）与粘性颗粒介质的行为和物理相互作用如何影响地下巢穴的形成。具体目标是：（1）研究蚁群在不同介质中的构建和对扰动的反应。(2)了解地面特性如何影响巢的结构和稳定性。(3)研究巢形成的多智能体仿真模型。在模拟巢建设的一个主要问题是，粘性土壤的物理是没有充分发展，以预测结构的稳定性。为了解决这个问题的PI将结合联合收割机信息从前两个目标到一个多智能体模拟模型的巢形成，个人的行为规则将来自观察和粘性土壤规则将来自物理研究。这些将被整合，以形成一个最小的物理模型，使用颗粒物理模拟和蚂蚁颗粒的相互作用，捕捉观察到的巢穴形成，并允许测试不同的假设的殖民地功能。PI将与为科学领域代表性不足的人口服务的高中协调，为研究实验室招聘教师，并将研究生安置到当地高中担任助教。此外，他们还将为本科生开展工程科学团队项目，以便学生更好地了解生物学和物理学交叉点的跨学科研究。提出的实验和模型可以帮助控制入侵物种，如S。invicta通过学习土壤改良如何影响筑巢。多智能体模拟将被用于解决科学或工程问题的许多领域之外。此外，该研究计划将为生物扰动建模提供一个平台，生物扰动是影响行星生态的主要因素。

In this project the PIs will use laboratory experiments and simulations to systematically study how the behavioral and physical interactions of fire ants (Solenopsis invicta) with cohesive granular media influence the formation of underground nests. The specific objectives are: (1) To study how ant colonies build and respond to perturbations in different media. (2) To understand how ground properties affect nest structure and stability. (3) To study multi-agent simulation models of nest formation. A major problem in modeling nest construction is that the physics of cohesive soils is not sufficiently developed to predict stability of structures. To address this question the PIs will combine information from the first two aims into a multi-agent simulation to model nest formation; individual behavioral rules will be derived from observations and cohesive soil rule will be derived from physics studies. These will be integrated to form a minimal physical model using granular physics simulation and ant grain interaction that captures the observed nest formation and allows the testing of different hypotheses of colony function. The PIs will coordinate with high schools serving populations underrepresented in the sciences to recruit teachers into the research labs and place graduate students into local high schools as teaching assistants. In addition they will also institute engineering-science team projects for undergraduates so that students gain a better understanding of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of biology and physics. The proposed experiments and models can aid in controlling invasive species such as S. invicta by learning how soil modification affects nest building. The multi-agent simulations will be of use to many outside this field for solving scientific or engineering problems. In addition this research program will provide a platform for modeling bioturbation, a major factoring affecting planetary ecology.