The costs and benefits of decentralization and centralization of ant colonies. (14th August 2019)
- Record Type:
- Journal Article
- Title:
- The costs and benefits of decentralization and centralization of ant colonies. (14th August 2019)
- Main Title:
- The costs and benefits of decentralization and centralization of ant colonies
- Authors:
- Burns, Dominic D R
Pitchford, Jon W
Parr, Catherine L
Franks, Daniel W
Robinson, Elva J H - Editors:
- Holman, Luke
- Abstract:
- Abstract: A challenge faced by individuals and groups of many species is determining how resources and activities should be spatially distributed: centralized or decentralized. This distribution problem is hard to understand due to the many costs and benefits of each strategy in different settings. Ant colonies are faced by this problem and demonstrate two solutions: 1) centralizing resources in a single nest (monodomy) and 2) decentralizing by spreading resources across many nests (polydomy). Despite the possibilities for using this system to study the centralization/decentralization problem, the trade-offs associated with using either polydomy or monodomy are poorly understood due to a lack of empirical data and cohesive theory. Here, we present a dynamic network model of a population of ant nests which is based on observations of a facultatively polydomous ant species ( Formica lugubris ). We use the model to test several key hypotheses for costs and benefits of polydomy and monodomy and show that decentralization is advantageous when resource acquisition costs are high, nest size is limited, resources are clustered, and there is a risk of nest destruction, but centralization prevails when resource availability fluctuates and nest size is limited. Our model explains the phylogenetic and ecological diversity of polydomous ants, demonstrates several trade-offs of decentralization and centralization, and provides testable predictions for empirical work on ants and in otherAbstract: A challenge faced by individuals and groups of many species is determining how resources and activities should be spatially distributed: centralized or decentralized. This distribution problem is hard to understand due to the many costs and benefits of each strategy in different settings. Ant colonies are faced by this problem and demonstrate two solutions: 1) centralizing resources in a single nest (monodomy) and 2) decentralizing by spreading resources across many nests (polydomy). Despite the possibilities for using this system to study the centralization/decentralization problem, the trade-offs associated with using either polydomy or monodomy are poorly understood due to a lack of empirical data and cohesive theory. Here, we present a dynamic network model of a population of ant nests which is based on observations of a facultatively polydomous ant species ( Formica lugubris ). We use the model to test several key hypotheses for costs and benefits of polydomy and monodomy and show that decentralization is advantageous when resource acquisition costs are high, nest size is limited, resources are clustered, and there is a risk of nest destruction, but centralization prevails when resource availability fluctuates and nest size is limited. Our model explains the phylogenetic and ecological diversity of polydomous ants, demonstrates several trade-offs of decentralization and centralization, and provides testable predictions for empirical work on ants and in other systems. Abstract : Centralization and decentralization of resources in ant colonies have several costs and benefits. We use a dynamic network model of a population of ant nests to demonstrate that there are several important costs and benefits of centralization and decentralization, which explains the phylogenetic and ecological diversity of methods for distribution of resources across ant species. … (more)
- Is Part Of:
- Behavioral ecology. Volume 30:Number 6(2019)
- Journal:
- Behavioral ecology
- Issue:
- Volume 30:Number 6(2019)
- Issue Display:
- Volume 30, Issue 6 (2019)
- Year:
- 2019
- Volume:
- 30
- Issue:
- 6
- Issue Sort Value:
- 2019-0030-0006-0000
- Page Start:
- 1700
- Page End:
- 1706
- Publication Date:
- 2019-08-14
- Subjects:
- collective decision-making -- decentralization -- dynamic networks -- polydomy -- social insects -- social networks
Animal behavior -- Periodicals
Behavior evolution -- Periodicals
Ecology -- Periodicals
Psychology, Comparative -- Periodicals
591.5 - Journal URLs:
- http://beheco.oupjournals.org ↗
http://beheco.oxfordjournals.org ↗
http://ukcatalogue.oup.com/ ↗
http://firstsearch.oclc.org ↗ - DOI:
- 10.1093/beheco/arz138 ↗
- Languages:
- English
- ISSNs:
- 1045-2249
- Deposit Type:
- Legaldeposit
- View Content:
- Available online (eLD content is only available in our Reading Rooms) ↗
- Physical Locations:
- British Library DSC - 1877.390000
British Library DSC - BLDSS-3PM
British Library HMNTS - ELD Digital store - Ingest File:
- 12089.xml