1
|
Wright J, Haaland TR, Dingemanse NJ, Westneat DF. A reaction norm framework for the evolution of learning: how cumulative experience shapes phenotypic plasticity. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2022; 97:1999-2021. [PMID: 35790067 PMCID: PMC9543233 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/14/2021] [Revised: 05/29/2022] [Accepted: 05/30/2022] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Learning is a familiar process to most people, but it currently lacks a fully developed theoretical position within evolutionary biology. Learning (memory and forgetting) involves adjustments in behaviour in response to cumulative sequences of prior experiences or exposures to environmental cues. We therefore suggest that all forms of learning (and some similar biological phenomena in development, aging, acquired immunity and acclimation) can usefully be viewed as special cases of phenotypic plasticity, and formally modelled by expanding the concept of reaction norms to include additional environmental dimensions quantifying sequences of cumulative experience (learning) and the time delays between events (forgetting). Memory therefore represents just one of a number of different internal neurological, physiological, hormonal and anatomical ‘states’ that mediate the carry‐over effects of cumulative environmental experiences on phenotypes across different time periods. The mathematical and graphical conceptualisation of learning as plasticity within a reaction norm framework can easily accommodate a range of different ecological scenarios, closely linking statistical estimates with biological processes. Learning and non‐learning plasticity interact whenever cumulative prior experience causes a modification in the reaction norm (a) elevation [mean phenotype], (b) slope [responsiveness], (c) environmental estimate error [informational memory] and/or (d) phenotypic precision [skill acquisition]. Innovation and learning new contingencies in novel (laboratory) environments can also be accommodated within this approach. A common reaction norm approach should thus encourage productive cross‐fertilisation of ideas between traditional studies of learning and phenotypic plasticity. As an example, we model the evolution of plasticity with and without learning under different levels of environmental estimation error to show how learning works as a specific adaptation promoting phenotypic plasticity in temporally autocorrelated environments. Our reaction norm framework for learning and analogous biological processes provides a conceptual and mathematical structure aimed at usefully stimulating future theoretical and empirical investigations into the evolution of plasticity across a wider range of ecological contexts, while providing new interdisciplinary connections regarding learning mechanisms.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jonathan Wright
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Department of Biology Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) N‐7491 Trondheim Norway
| | - Thomas R. Haaland
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics (CBD), Department of Biology Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) N‐7491 Trondheim Norway
- Department of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies University of Zürich Winterthurerstrasse 190 CH‐8057 Zürich Switzerland
| | - Niels J. Dingemanse
- Behavioural Ecology, Department of Biology Ludwig‐Maximilians University of Munich (LMU) 82152 Planegg‐Martinsried Germany
| | - David F. Westneat
- Department of Biology University of Kentucky 101 Morgan Building Lexington KY 40506‐0225 USA
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Walasek N, Frankenhuis WE, Panchanathan K. An evolutionary model of sensitive periods when the reliability of cues varies across ontogeny. Behav Ecol 2021; 33:101-114. [PMID: 35197808 PMCID: PMC8857937 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arab113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2021] [Revised: 07/22/2021] [Accepted: 09/17/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Sensitive periods are widespread in nature, but their evolution is not well understood. Recent mathematical modeling has illuminated the conditions favoring the evolution of sensitive periods early in ontogeny. However, sensitive periods also exist at later stages of ontogeny, such as adolescence. Here, we present a mathematical model that explores the conditions that favor sensitive periods at later developmental stages. In our model, organisms use environmental cues to incrementally construct a phenotype that matches their environment. Unlike in previous models, the reliability of cues varies across ontogeny. We use stochastic dynamic programming to compute optimal policies for a range of evolutionary ecologies and then simulate developmental trajectories to obtain mature phenotypes. We measure changes in plasticity across ontogeny using study paradigms inspired by empirical research: adoption and cross-fostering. Our results show that sensitive periods only evolve later in ontogeny if the reliability of cues increases across ontogeny. The onset, duration, and offset of sensitive periods—and the magnitude of plasticity—depend on the specific parameter settings. If the reliability of cues decreases across ontogeny, sensitive periods are favored only early in ontogeny. These results are robust across different paradigms suggesting that empirical findings might be comparable despite different experimental designs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicole Walasek
- Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD Nijmegen, the Netherlands
| | - Willem E Frankenhuis
- Behavioral Science Institute, Radboud University, Thomas van Aquinostraat 4, 6525 GD Nijmegen, the Netherlands
- Department of Psychology, Utrecht University, Heidelberglaan 1, 3584 CS Utrecht, the Netherlands
- Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Günterstalstraße 73, 79100 Freiburg, Germany
| | - Karthik Panchanathan
- Department of Anthropology, University of Missouri, 225 Swallow Hall Columbia, MO 65211, USA
| |
Collapse
|
3
|
Houston AI, Trimmer PC, McNamara JM. Matching Behaviours and Rewards. Trends Cogn Sci 2021; 25:403-415. [PMID: 33612384 DOI: 10.1016/j.tics.2021.01.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/06/2020] [Revised: 01/19/2021] [Accepted: 01/21/2021] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Matching describes how behaviour is related to rewards. The matching law holds when the ratio of an individual's behaviours equals the ratio of the rewards obtained. From its origins in the study of pigeons working for food in the laboratory, the law has been applied to a range of species, both in the laboratory and outside it (e.g., human sporting decisions). Probability matching occurs when the probability of a behaviour equals the probability of being rewarded. Input matching predicts the distribution of individuals across habitats. We evaluate the rationality of the matching law and probability matching, expose the logic of matching in real-world cases, review how recent neuroscience findings relate to matching, and suggest future research directions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alasdair I Houston
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Life Sciences Building, 24 Tyndall Avenue, Bristol, BS8 1TQ, UK.
| | - Pete C Trimmer
- Department of Psychology, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL, UK
| | - John M McNamara
- School of Mathematics, University of Bristol, Fry Building, Woodland Road, Bristol, BS8 1UG, UK
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Frankenhuis WE, Nettle D, Dall SRX. A case for environmental statistics of early-life effects. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci 2020; 374:20180110. [PMID: 30966883 PMCID: PMC6460088 DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2018.0110] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
There is enduring debate over the question of which early-life effects are adaptive and which ones are not. Mathematical modelling shows that early-life effects can be adaptive in environments that have particular statistical properties, such as reliable cues to current conditions and high autocorrelation of environmental states. However, few empirical studies have measured these properties, leading to an impasse. Progress, therefore, depends on research that quantifies cue reliability and autocorrelation of environmental parameters in real environments. These statistics may be different for social and non-social aspects of the environment. In this paper, we summarize evolutionary models of early-life effects. Then, we discuss empirical data on environmental statistics from a range of disciplines. We highlight cases where data on environmental statistics have been used to test competing explanations of early-life effects. We conclude by providing guidelines for new data collection and reflections on future directions. This article is part of the theme issue ‘Developing differences: early-life effects and evolutionary medicine'.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Willem E Frankenhuis
- 1 Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University , Nijmegen 6500 HE , The Netherlands
| | - Daniel Nettle
- 2 Centre for Behaviour and Evolution and Institute of Neuroscience, Newcastle University , Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 7RU , UK
| | - Sasha R X Dall
- 3 Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter , Penryn TR10 9FE , UK
| |
Collapse
|
5
|
Frankenhuis WE, Walasek N. Modeling the evolution of sensitive periods. Dev Cogn Neurosci 2020; 41:100715. [PMID: 31999568 PMCID: PMC6994616 DOI: 10.1016/j.dcn.2019.100715] [Citation(s) in RCA: 52] [Impact Index Per Article: 13.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/29/2019] [Revised: 08/09/2019] [Accepted: 10/01/2019] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
In the past decade, there has been monumental progress in our understanding of the neurobiological basis of sensitive periods. Little is known, however, about the evolution of sensitive periods. Recent studies have started to address this gap. Biologists have built mathematical models exploring the environmental conditions in which sensitive periods are likely to evolve. These models investigate how mechanisms of plasticity can respond optimally to experience during an individual's lifetime. This paper discusses the central tenets, insights, and predictions of these models, in relation to empirical work on humans and other animals. We also discuss which future models are needed to improve the bridge between theory and data, advancing their synergy. Our paper is written in an accessible manner and for a broad audience. We hope our work will contribute to recently emerging connections between the fields of developmental neuroscience and evolutionary biology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | - Nicole Walasek
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, the Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
DiRienzo N, Johnson JC, Dornhaus A. Juvenile social experience generates differences in behavioral variation but not averages. Behav Ecol 2019; 30:455-464. [PMID: 30971860 PMCID: PMC6450201 DOI: 10.1093/beheco/ary185] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2018] [Revised: 09/21/2018] [Accepted: 12/08/2018] [Indexed: 01/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Developmental plasticity is known to influence the mean behavioral phenotype of a population. Yet, studies on how developmental plasticity shapes patterns of variation within populations are comparatively rare and often focus on a subset of developmental cues (e.g., nutrition). One potentially important but understudied developmental experience is social experience, as it is explicitly hypothesized to increase variation among individuals as a way to promote "social niches." To test this, we exposed juvenile black widow spiders (Latrodectus hesperus) to the silk of conspecifics by transplanting them onto conspecific webs for 48 h once a week until adulthood. We also utilized an untouched control group as well as a disturbed group. This latter group was removed from their web at the same time points as the social treatment, but was immediately placed back on their own web. After repeatedly measuring adult behavior and web structure, we found that social rearing drove higher or significant levels of repeatability relative to the other treatments. Repeatability in the social treatment also decreased in some traits, paralleling the decreases observed in the disturbed treatments. Thus, repeated juvenile disturbance may decrease among-individual differences in adult spiders. Yet, social rearing appeared to override the effect of disturbance in some traits, suggesting a prioritization effect. The resulting individual differences were maintained over at least one-third of the adult lifespan and thus appear to represent stable, canalized developmental effects and not temporal state differences. These results provide proximate insight into how a broader range of developmental experiences shape trait variation.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nicholas DiRienzo
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - J Chadwick Johnson
- School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences, Arizona State University, Glendale, AZ, USA
| | - Anna Dornhaus
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
Frankenhuis WE, Nettle D, McNamara JM. Echoes of Early Life: Recent Insights From Mathematical Modeling. Child Dev 2018; 89:1504-1518. [PMID: 29947096 PMCID: PMC6175464 DOI: 10.1111/cdev.13108] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/23/2022]
Abstract
In the last decades, developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD) has emerged as a central framework for studying early‐life effects, that is, the impact of fetal and early postnatal experience on adult functioning. Apace with empirical progress, theoreticians have built mathematical models that provide novel insights for DOHaD. This article focuses on three of these insights, which show the power of environmental noise (i.e., imperfect indicators of current and future conditions) in shaping development. Such noise can produce: (a) detrimental outcomes even in ontogenetically stable environments, (b) individual differences in sensitive periods, and (c) early‐life effects tailored to predicted future somatic states. We argue that these insights extend DOHaD and offer new research directions.
Collapse
|
8
|
Frankenhuis WE, Panchanathan K, Barto AG. Enriching behavioral ecology with reinforcement learning methods. Behav Processes 2018; 161:94-100. [PMID: 29412143 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2018.01.008] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/13/2017] [Revised: 01/05/2018] [Accepted: 01/10/2018] [Indexed: 01/13/2023]
Abstract
This article focuses on the division of labor between evolution and development in solving sequential, state-dependent decision problems. Currently, behavioral ecologists tend to use dynamic programming methods to study such problems. These methods are successful at predicting animal behavior in a variety of contexts. However, they depend on a distinct set of assumptions. Here, we argue that behavioral ecology will benefit from drawing more than it currently does on a complementary collection of tools, called reinforcement learning methods. These methods allow for the study of behavior in highly complex environments, which conventional dynamic programming methods do not feasibly address. In addition, reinforcement learning methods are well-suited to studying how biological mechanisms solve developmental and learning problems. For instance, we can use them to study simple rules that perform well in complex environments. Or to investigate under what conditions natural selection favors fixed, non-plastic traits (which do not vary across individuals), cue-driven-switch plasticity (innate instructions for adaptive behavioral development based on experience), or developmental selection (the incremental acquisition of adaptive behavior based on experience). If natural selection favors developmental selection, which includes learning from environmental feedback, we can also make predictions about the design of reward systems. Our paper is written in an accessible manner and for a broad audience, though we believe some novel insights can be drawn from our discussion. We hope our paper will help advance the emerging bridge connecting the fields of behavioral ecology and reinforcement learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Willem E Frankenhuis
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Montessorilaan 3, PO Box 9104, 6500, HE, Nijmegen, The Netherlands.
| | | | - Andrew G Barto
- College of Information and Computer Sciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, United States
| |
Collapse
|
9
|
Watts JC, Jones TC, Herrig A, Miller M, Tenhumberg B. Temporal Variation in Predation Risk May Explain Daily Rhythms of Foraging Behavior in an Orb-Weaving Spider. Am Nat 2018; 191:74-87. [DOI: 10.1086/694775] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
10
|
Hui TY, Williams GA. Experience matters: context-dependent decisions explain spatial foraging patterns in the deposit-feeding crab Scopimera intermedia. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 284:rspb.2017.1442. [PMID: 28855371 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2017.1442] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/27/2017] [Accepted: 07/19/2017] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Behavioural decisions are often context-dependent, where information from immediate experience is incorporated into an individual's decision-making, particularly in complex environments. To test whether such mechanism is adopted by foragers in heterogeneous environments, we investigated the foraging behaviour of the deposit-feeding sand-bubbler crab, Scopimera intermedia An individual-based model was constructed, based on an optimal-patch selection criterion, which implicitly assumed that individuals adjust foraging decisions based on immediate past experience. The model's predictions were tested on the shore by manipulating the location of food patches, where the crab showed a strong context-dependent foraging pattern. When resources were randomly distributed, the crab responded by spending 56% of time in enriched patches compared with only 28% in the same area when patches were composed of natural sediments. Shore manipulations varying resource distribution supported the underlying principles of the model mechanism, and highlighted the benefits of such a strategy in heterogeneous environments such as intertidal sediments where food resources vary at different spatial and temporal scales. The proposed model therefore provides a mechanistic process, based on optimal foraging, to predict foraging decisions and movement patterns of animals feeding in heterogeneous landscapes.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- T Y Hui
- The Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
| | - Gray A Williams
- The Swire Institute of Marine Science and School of Biological Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China
| |
Collapse
|
11
|
Dunlap AS, Papaj DR, Dornhaus A. Sampling and tracking a changing environment: persistence and reward in the foraging decisions of bumblebees. Interface Focus 2017; 7:20160149. [PMID: 28479985 PMCID: PMC5413896 DOI: 10.1098/rsfs.2016.0149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The question of when to collect new information and how to apply that information is central to much of behaviour. Theory suggests that the value of collecting information, or sampling, depends on environmental persistence and on the relative costs of making wrong decisions. However, empirical tests of how these variables interact are lacking. We tested whether bumblebee foraging decisions are indeed influenced by these two factors. We gave bees repeated choices between a resource providing a steady, mediocre reward and a resource fluctuating between a low reward and a high reward. In this paradigm, we manipulated environmental persistence by changing how long the quality of a fluctuating resource remained stable at one reward level. We manipulated the costs of decision errors by changing the relative values of the available rewards. Bees sampled the fluctuating resource more frequently when it changed quality more frequently, indicating that they measured environmental persistence and reacted to it as predicted by theory. Bees showed surprisingly suboptimal tracking, not reliably choosing the currently best resource except when the fluctuating resource was very persistent and the potential rewards high. While bees modify their choices in response to different levels of change and potential rewards, they do not always do so according to optimality predictions.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aimee S. Dunlap
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
- Department of Biology, University of Missouri, St Louis, MO, USA
| | - Daniel R. Papaj
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| | - Anna Dornhaus
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, USA
| |
Collapse
|
12
|
Stamps JA, Krishnan V. Age-dependent changes in behavioural plasticity: insights from Bayesian models of development. Anim Behav 2017. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2017.01.013] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/20/2022]
|
13
|
English S, Fawcett TW, Higginson AD, Trimmer PC, Uller T. Adaptive Use of Information during Growth Can Explain Long-Term Effects of Early Life Experiences. Am Nat 2016; 187:620-32. [DOI: 10.1086/685644] [Citation(s) in RCA: 58] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
14
|
Stamps JA, Frankenhuis WE. Bayesian Models of Development. Trends Ecol Evol 2016; 31:260-268. [PMID: 26896042 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.01.012] [Citation(s) in RCA: 63] [Impact Index Per Article: 7.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/10/2015] [Revised: 01/19/2016] [Accepted: 01/20/2016] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
Until recently, biology lacked a framework for studying how information from genes, parental effects, and different personal experiences is combined across the lifetime to affect phenotypic development. Over the past few years, researchers have begun to build such a framework, using models that incorporate Bayesian updating to study the evolution of developmental plasticity and developmental trajectories. Here, we describe the merits of a Bayesian approach to development, review the main findings and implications of the current set of models, and describe predictions that can be tested using protocols already used by empiricists. We suggest that a Bayesian perspective affords a simple and tractable way to conceptualize, explain, and predict how information combines across the lifetime to affect development.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Judy A Stamps
- Section of Evolution and Ecology, Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
| | - Willem E Frankenhuis
- Behavioural Science Institute, Radboud University, Nijmegen, Montessorilaan 3, PO Box 9104, 6500 HE Nijmegen, The Netherlands
| |
Collapse
|
15
|
Background risk and recent experience influences retention of neophobic responses to predators. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2015. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-015-1888-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 26] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/23/2022]
|
16
|
Heap SM, Stuart-Fox D, Byrne PG. Reduction in site fidelity with smaller spatial scale may suggest scale-dependent information use. Behav Ecol 2014. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/aru230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022] Open
|
17
|
Stamps JA, Krishnan VV. Combining Information from Ancestors and Personal Experiences to Predict Individual Differences in Developmental Trajectories. Am Nat 2014; 184:647-57. [DOI: 10.1086/678116] [Citation(s) in RCA: 92] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
18
|
Semmar N, Roux M. A new simplex approach to highlight multi-scale feeding behaviors in forager species from stomach contents: application to insectivore lizard population. Biosystems 2014; 118:60-75. [PMID: 24607888 DOI: 10.1016/j.biosystems.2014.02.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2012] [Revised: 02/20/2014] [Accepted: 02/27/2014] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
Stomach contents represent complex mixture systems which depend on feeding mode and level of forager species (carnivores, herbivores) as well as on natural availability/distribution of food resources (preys, plants). Such mixture systems can be considered as small black boxes condensing wide ecological information on (i) feeding behaviors of predator (or herbivore) and (ii) local diversity of preys (or host plants). Feeding behaviors of a hunter species toward different prey taxa show a complex variability whose investigation requires multivariate statistical tools. This paper presents a new computational approach which statistically analyzes stomach contents' variability in a predator population to graphically highlight different feeding behaviors. It is a simulation approach iteratively combining the variability of different diet patterns by using a simplex mixture design. Average combinatorial results are graphically visualized to highlight scale-dependent relationships between consumption rates of different food types found in the stomachs. The simplex approach was applied on different subpopulations of Phrynosoma douglassi brevirostre, an insectivore lizard species. These subpopulations were initially defined by different criteria including statistical clusters, gender and sampling periods. Results highlighted successive trade-offs over months of captured potential preys switching from small and less mobile preys to large and flying ones. In these dietary transitions, P. douglassi manifested a systematic memorization of previous preys and a gradual foraging learning of the next ones. These results highlighted lightness on dietary flexibility helping this specialist predator to switch between diets based on different potential preys. Adult male and adult female lizards showed different feeding behaviors due to some predation lag-time between them and different dietary ratios toward the same considered preys.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Nabil Semmar
- Institut Supérieur des Sciences Biologiques Appliquées de Tunis (ISSBAT), Université de Tunis El Manar (UTM), Tunis, Tunisia; Laboratoire de Biomathématiques, Service 462, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de Saint-Jérômes, Avenue Escadrille Normandie Niemen, 13397 Marseille Cedex 13, France.
| | - Maurice Roux
- Laboratoire de Biomathématiques, Service 462, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques de Saint-Jérômes, Avenue Escadrille Normandie Niemen, 13397 Marseille Cedex 13, France
| |
Collapse
|
19
|
Sozou PD. Kin selection and local competition in a heterogeneous community. J Theor Biol 2013; 332:261-6. [PMID: 23684769 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2013.05.003] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/30/2013] [Revised: 04/19/2013] [Accepted: 05/06/2013] [Indexed: 12/01/2022]
Abstract
When should an individual be willing to pay a cost in order to help or harm another individual in its community? Kin selection suggests that relatives should help each other, while competition for limited resources may select for harming behaviour against neighbours. This study considers social interactions between two individuals. For actions influencing non-dispersing reproduction, a condition is derived for selection to favour helping or harming, as a function of the actor's relationship to the rest of its community and to the recipient. Where two individuals differ in their relatedness to the community, the individual which is less related to the community will be the more helpful. Two individuals with a given relatedness to each other will be more helpful to each other as they jointly become less related to their community. The implications of these results are explored through an example involving a community derived from two ancestral groups. The directional selective effects will depend on the extent to which social interactions are assortative rather than random, and the distribution of opportunities for helping and harming.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Peter D Sozou
- Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science, London School of Economics and Political Science, Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE, UK.
| |
Collapse
|
20
|
|
21
|
Ferrari MCO, Brown GE, Chivers DP. Temperature-mediated changes in rates of predator forgetting in woodfrog tadpoles. PLoS One 2012; 7:e51143. [PMID: 23251438 PMCID: PMC3521018 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051143] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/11/2012] [Accepted: 11/01/2012] [Indexed: 11/19/2022] Open
Abstract
Hundreds of studies have investigated the sources and nature of information that prey gather about their predators and the ways in which prey use this information to mediate their risk of predation. However, relatively little theoretical or empirical work has considered the question of how long information should be maintained and used by prey animals in making behavioural decisions. Here, we tested whether the size of the memory window associated with predator recognition could be affected by an intrinsic factor, such as size and growth rate of the prey. We maintained groups of predator-naive woodfrog, Lithobates sylvaticus, tadpoles at different temperatures for 8 days to induce differences in tadpole size. We then conditioned small and large tadpoles to recognize the odour of a predatory tiger salamander, Ambystoma tigrinum. Tadpoles were then maintained either on a high or low growth trajectory for another 8 days, after which they were tested for their response to the predator. Our results suggest that the memory window related to predator recognition of tadpoles is determined by both their size and/or growth rate at the time of learning and their subsequent growth rate post-learning.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Maud C O Ferrari
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, Western College of Veterinary Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, SK, Canada.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
22
|
Louâpre P, Pierre JS. Carbon dioxide narcosis modifies the patch leaving decision of foraging parasitoids. Anim Cogn 2011; 15:429-35. [PMID: 22042510 DOI: 10.1007/s10071-011-0464-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/07/2011] [Accepted: 10/12/2011] [Indexed: 02/03/2023]
Abstract
Gleaning information is a way for foragers to adjust their behavior in order to maximize their fitness. Information decreases the uncertainty about the environment and could help foragers to accurately estimate environmental characteristics. In a patchy resource, information sampled during previous patch visits is efficient only if it is retained in the memory and retrieved upon arrival in a new patch. In this study, we tested whether the braconid Asobara tabida, a parasitoid of Drosophila larvae, retains information gleaned on patch quality in the memory and adjusts its foraging behavior accordingly. Females were anesthetized with CO(2) after leaving a first patch containing a different number of hosts and were allowed to visit a second patch containing only kairomones. CO(2) is known to erase unconsolidated information from the memory. We show that in the absence of a short CO(2) narcosis, females responded according to their previous experience, whereas anesthetized females did not. The anesthetized females stayed a given time in the second patch irrespective of what they encountered before. CO(2) narcosis had no effect on the residence time of the non-experienced females in a patch containing hosts or only kairomones in comparison with the non-anesthetized females that had a previous foraging experience. We conclude that CO(2) narcosis erases the effect of the previous patch quality, perhaps due to a memory disruption. Direct information processing is likely to be involved in parasitoid decision making through retention of the information on the previous patch quality into a CO(2) sensitive memory.
Collapse
|
23
|
Dunlap AS, Stephens DW. Tracking a changing environment: optimal sampling, adaptive memory and overnight effects. Behav Processes 2011; 89:86-94. [PMID: 22024660 DOI: 10.1016/j.beproc.2011.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 36] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/03/2011] [Revised: 10/04/2011] [Accepted: 10/08/2011] [Indexed: 11/19/2022]
Abstract
Foraging in a variable environment presents a classic problem of decision making with incomplete information. Animals must track the changing environment, remember the best options and make choices accordingly. While several experimental studies have explored the idea that sampling behavior reflects the amount of environmental change, we take the next logical step in asking how change influences memory. We explore the hypothesis that memory length should be tied to the ecological relevance and the value of the information learned, and that environmental change is a key determinant of the value of memory. We use a dynamic programming model to confirm our predictions and then test memory length in a factorial experiment. In our experimental situation we manipulate rates of change in a simple foraging task for blue jays over a 36 h period. After jays experienced an experimentally determined change regime, we tested them at a range of retention intervals, from 1 to 72 h. Manipulated rates of change influenced learning and sampling rates: subjects sampled more and learned more quickly in the high change condition. Tests of retention revealed significant interactions between retention interval and the experienced rate of change. We observed a striking and surprising difference between the high and low change treatments at the 24h retention interval. In agreement with earlier work we find that a circadian retention interval is special, but we find that the extent of this 'specialness' depends on the subject's prior experience of environmental change. Specifically, experienced rates of change seem to influence how subjects balance recent information against past experience in a way that interacts with the passage of time.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Aimee S Dunlap
- Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
24
|
|
25
|
Abstract
AbstractOptimization models have often been useful in attempting to understand the adaptive significance of behavioral traits. Originally such models were applied to isolated aspects of behavior, such as foraging, mating, or parental behavior. In reality, organisms live in complex, ever-changing environments, and are simultaneously concerned with many behavioral choices and their consequences. This target article describes a dynamic modeling technique that can be used to analyze behavior in a unified way. The technique has been widely used in behavioral studies of insects, fish, birds, mammals, and other organisms. The models use biologically meaningful parameters and variables, and lead to testable predictions. Limitations arise because nature's complexity always exceeds our modeling capacity.
Collapse
|
26
|
|
27
|
|
28
|
|
29
|
|
30
|
Growth rate and retention of learned predator cues by juvenile rainbow trout: faster-growing fish forget sooner. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 2011. [DOI: 10.1007/s00265-011-1140-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
|
31
|
Cooch EG, Cam E, Link W. Occam's shadow: Levels of analysis in evolutionary ecology--where to next? J Appl Stat 2010. [DOI: 10.1080/02664760120108421] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/17/2022]
|
32
|
Esposito S, Incerti G, Giannino F, Russo D, Mazzoleni S. Integrated modelling of foraging behaviour, energy budget and memory properties. Ecol Modell 2010. [DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2010.01.009] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/13/2022]
|
33
|
Soria M, Dagorn L, Potin G, Fréon P. First field-based experiment supporting the meeting point hypothesis for schooling in pelagic fish. Anim Behav 2009. [DOI: 10.1016/j.anbehav.2009.09.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 38] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/15/2022]
|
34
|
Eliassen S, Jørgensen C, Mangel M, Giske J. Quantifying the Adaptive Value of Learning in Foraging Behavior. Am Nat 2009; 174:478-89. [DOI: 10.1086/605370] [Citation(s) in RCA: 49] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
|
35
|
Dunlap AS, McLinn CM, MacCormick HA, Scott ME, Kerr B. Why some memories do not last a lifetime: dynamic long-term retrieval in changing environments. Behav Ecol 2009. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arp102] [Citation(s) in RCA: 29] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
|
36
|
Abstract
Plants are limited in their ability to choose their neighbours, but they are able to orchestrate a wide spectrum of rational competitive behaviours that increase their prospects to prevail under various ecological settings. Through the perception of neighbours, plants are able to anticipate probable competitive interactions and modify their competitive behaviours to maximize their long-term gains. Specifically, plants can minimize competitive encounters by avoiding their neighbours; maximize their competitive effects by aggressively confronting their neighbours; or tolerate the competitive effects of their neighbours. However, the adaptive values of these non-mutually exclusive options are expected to depend strongly on the plants' evolutionary background and to change dynamically according to their past development, and relative sizes and vigour. Additionally, the magnitude of competitive responsiveness is expected to be positively correlated with the reliability of the environmental information regarding the expected competitive interactions and the expected time left for further plastic modifications. Concurrent competition over external and internal resources and morphogenetic signals may enable some plants to increase their efficiency and external competitive performance by discriminately allocating limited resources to their more promising organs at the expense of failing or less successful organs.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Ariel Novoplansky
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Sede-Boqer Campus 84990, Israel.
| |
Collapse
|
37
|
Forrest J, Thomson JD. Pollinator experience, neophobia and the evolution of flowering time. Proc Biol Sci 2009; 276:935-43. [PMID: 19129131 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2008.1434] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Environmental changes, such as current climate warming, can exert directional selection on reproductive phenology. In plants, evolution of earlier flowering requires that the individuals bearing genes for early flowering successfully reproduce; for non-selfing, zoophilous species, this means that early flowering individuals must be visited by pollinators. In a laboratory experiment with artificial flowers, we presented captive bumble-bees (Bombus impatiens) with flower arrays representing stages in the phenological progression of a two-species plant community: Bees that had been foraging on flowers of one colour were confronted with increasing numbers of flowers of a second colour. Early flowering individuals of the second 'species' were significantly under-visited, because bees avoided unfamiliar flowers, particularly when these were rare. We incorporated these aspects of bee foraging behaviour (neophobia and positive frequency dependence) in a simulation model of flowering-time evolution for a plant population experiencing selection against late flowering. Unlike simple frequency dependence, a lag in pollinator visitation prevented the plant population from responding to selection and led to declines in population size. Pollinator behaviour thus has the potential to constrain evolutionary adjustments of flowering phenology.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Jessica Forrest
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G5.
| | | |
Collapse
|
38
|
Lange A, Dukas R. Bayesian approximations and extensions: optimal decisions for small brains and possibly big ones too. J Theor Biol 2009; 259:503-16. [PMID: 19348813 DOI: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2009.03.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/31/2008] [Revised: 02/01/2009] [Accepted: 03/11/2009] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
Abstract
We compared the performance of Bayesian learning strategies and approximations to such strategies, which are far less computationally demanding, in a setting requiring individuals to make binary decisions based on experience. Extending Bayesian updating schemes, we compared the different strategies while allowing for various implementations of memory and knowledge about the environment. The dynamics of the observable variables was modeled through basic probability distributions and convolution. This theoretical framework was applied to the problem of male fruit flies who have to decide which females they should court. Computer simulations indicated that, for most parameter values, approximations to the Bayesian strategy performed as well as the full Bayesian one. The linear approximation, reminiscent of the linear operator, was notably successful, and, without innate knowledge, the only successful learning strategy. Besides being less demanding in computation and thus realistic for small brains, the linear approximation was also successful at limited memory, which would translate into robustness in rapidly changing environments. Knowledge about the environment boosted the performance of the various learning strategies with maximal performance at large utilization of memory. Only for limited memory capacities, intermediate knowledge was most successful. We conclude that many animals may rely on algorithms that involve approximations rather than full Bayesian calculations because such approximations achieve high levels of performance with only a fraction of the computational requirements, in particular for extensions of Bayesian updating schemes, which can represent universal and realistic environments.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Alexander Lange
- Department of Psychology, Neuroscience and Behaviour, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
| | | |
Collapse
|
39
|
Gross R, Houston AI, Collins EJ, McNamara JM, Dechaume-Moncharmont FX, Franks NR. Simple learning rules to cope with changing environments. J R Soc Interface 2008; 5:1193-202. [PMID: 18337214 DOI: 10.1098/rsif.2007.1348] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
We consider an agent that must choose repeatedly among several actions. Each action has a certain probability of giving the agent an energy reward, and costs may be associated with switching between actions. The agent does not know which action has the highest reward probability, and the probabilities change randomly over time. We study two learning rules that have been widely used to model decision-making processes in animals-one deterministic and the other stochastic. In particular, we examine the influence of the rules' 'learning rate' on the agent's energy gain. We compare the performance of each rule with the best performance attainable when the agent has either full knowledge or no knowledge of the environment. Over relatively short periods of time, both rules are successful in enabling agents to exploit their environment. Moreover, under a range of effective learning rates, both rules are equivalent, and can be expressed by a third rule that requires the agent to select the action for which the current run of unsuccessful trials is shortest. However, the performance of both rules is relatively poor over longer periods of time, and under most circumstances no better than the performance an agent could achieve without knowledge of the environment. We propose a simple extension to the original rules that enables agents to learn about and effectively exploit a changing environment for an unlimited period of time.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Roderich Gross
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Bristol, Woodland Road, Bristol BS8 1UG, UK.
| | | | | | | | | | | |
Collapse
|
40
|
Mangel M. Environment, damage and senescence: modelling the life-history consequences of variable stress and caloric intake. Funct Ecol 2008. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2435.2008.01410.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 30] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
|
41
|
Eliassen S, Jørgensen C, Mangel M, Giske J. Exploration or exploitation: life expectancy changes the value of learning in foraging strategies. OIKOS 2007. [DOI: 10.1111/j.2006.0030-1299.15462.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 85] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
|
42
|
Nocera JJ, Forbes GJ, Giraldeau LA. Inadvertent social information in breeding site selection of natal dispersing birds. Proc Biol Sci 2006; 273:349-55. [PMID: 16543178 PMCID: PMC1560037 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2005.3318] [Citation(s) in RCA: 89] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/15/2005] [Accepted: 08/31/2005] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Several species use the number of young produced as public information (PI) to assess breeding site quality. PI is inaccessible for synchronously breeding birds because nests are empty by the time the young can collect this information. We investigate if location cues are the next best source of inadvertent social information (ISI) used by young prospectors during breeding site choice. We experimentally deployed ISI as decoys and song playbacks of breeding males in suitable and sub-optimal habitats during pre- and post-breeding periods, and monitored territory establishment during the subsequent breeding season for a social, bobolink (Dolichonyx oryzivorus), and a more solitary species, Nelson's sharp-tailed sparrow (Ammodramus nelsoni). The sparrows did not respond to treatments, but bobolinks responded strongly to post-breeding location cues, irrespective of habitat quality. The following year, 17/20 sub-optimal plots to which bobolink males were recruited were defended for at least two weeks, indicating that song heard the previous year could exert a "carry-over attraction" effect on conspecifics the following year. Sixteen recruited males were natal dispersers, as expected when animals have little opportunity to directly sample their natal habitat quality. We suggest that differences in breeding synchronicity may induce an equivalent clinal distribution of ISI use.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Joseph J Nocera
- Department of Biology, University of New Brunswick, Bag Service #45111, Fredericton, NB E3B 6E1, Canada.
| | | | | |
Collapse
|
43
|
|
44
|
A. Vásquez R, Grossi B, Natalia Márquez I. On the value of information: studying changes in patch assessment abilities through learning. OIKOS 2006. [DOI: 10.1111/j.0030-1299.2006.13530.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
|
45
|
|
46
|
Wong TG, Ackerly DD. Optimal reproductive allocation in annuals and an informational constraint on plasticity. THE NEW PHYTOLOGIST 2005; 166:159-171. [PMID: 15760360 DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2005.01375.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/24/2023]
Abstract
In this computational study, we examined optimal reproductive allocation schedules in annual plants whose season lengths vary in predictability. We discuss relationships among season-length predictability, the form of the optimal allocation schedule, the degree of plasticity reflected in the optimal reaction norm, and the competitive consequences of plasticity and bet-hedging. We used an evolutionary algorithm to search the allocation-schedule space for optima, given different distributions of season length. The resulting schedules maximize geometric-mean fecundity under their selecting distributions. We then examined the relative fitness of these schedules in simulated competition among reaction norms optimized for different degrees of season-length predictability. Gradedness of optimal schedules decreases with increasing season-length predictability, and reaction norms comprising highly graded schedules reflect lesser plasticity than norms comprising schedules that are less graded. In simulations, competitively successful genotypes were those that reflected plasticity appropriate to the season-length predictability. Informational constraints in the form of low season-length predictability select for low plasticity and high bet-hedging in allocation. Because an environmental cue must mediate the relationship between environment and fitness, plasticity in reproductive allocation ought to be understood not as a direct response to the selective environment, but rather to cues that are correlated with relevant environmental parameters.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Theodore G Wong
- Department of Biology, Bryn Mawr College, 101 North Merion Avenue, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania 19010, USA.
| | | |
Collapse
|
47
|
|
48
|
Beauchamp G, Fernández-Juricic E. The group-size paradox: effects of learning and patch departure rules. Behav Ecol 2004. [DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arh169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
|
49
|
Koops MA, Abrahams MV. Integrating the roles of information and competitive ability on the spatial distribution of social foragers. Am Nat 2003; 161:586-600. [PMID: 12776886 DOI: 10.1086/368297] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/26/2001] [Accepted: 10/10/2002] [Indexed: 11/03/2022]
Abstract
Understanding and predicting the spatial distribution of social foragers among patchily distributed resources is a problem that has been addressed with numerous approaches over the 30 yr since the ideal free distribution (IFD) was first introduced. The two main approaches involve perceptual constraints and unequal competitors. Here we present a model of social foragers choosing among resource patches. Each forager makes a probabilistic choice on the basis of the information acquired through past foraging experiences. Food acquisition is determined by the forager's competitive ability. This model predicts that perceptual constraints have a greater influence on the spatial distribution of foragers than unequal competitive abilities but that competitive ability plays an important role in determining an individual's information state and behavior. Better competitors have access to more information; consequently, we find that competitive abilities and perceptual constraints are integrated through the social environment occupied by individual foragers. Relative competitive abilities influence the forager's information state, and the ability to use information determines the resulting spatial distribution.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Marten A Koops
- Department of Zoology, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2, Canada.
| | | |
Collapse
|
50
|
The influence of habitat stability on landmark use during spatial learning in the three-spined stickleback. Anim Behav 2003. [DOI: 10.1006/anbe.2003.2082] [Citation(s) in RCA: 103] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
|