dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaA complex social structure with fission-fusion properties can emerge from a simple foraging model
| Authors | Gabriel Ramos-Fernández, Denis Boyer, Vian P. Gómez |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0511040 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0511040 |
Abstract
Precisely how ecological factors influence animal social structure is far from clear. We explore this question using an agent-based model inspired by the fission-fusion society of Spider monkeys (Ateles spp). Our model introduces a realistic, complex foraging environment composed of many resource patches with size varying according to an inverse power-law frequency distribution with exponent $\beta$. Foragers do not interact among them and start from random initial locations. They have either a complete or partial knowledge of the environment and maximize the ratio between the size of the next visited patch and the distance traveled to it, ignoring previously visited patches. At intermediate values of $\beta$, when large patches are neither too scarce nor too abundant, foragers form groups (coincide at the same patch) with a similar size frequency distribution as the spider monkey's subgroups. Fission-fusion events create a network of associations that contains weak bonds among foragers that meet only rarely and strong bonds among those that repeat associations more frequently than would be expected by chance. The latter form sub-networks with the highest number of bonds and a high clustering coefficient at intermediate values of $\beta$. The weak bonds enable the whole social network to percolate. Some of our results are similar to those found in long-term field studies of spider monkeys and other fission-fusion species. We conclude that hypotheses about the ecological causes of fission-fusion and the origin of complex social structures should consider the heterogeneity and complexity of the environment in which social animals live.
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"abstract": "Precisely how ecological factors influence animal social structure is far\nfrom clear. We explore this question using an agent-based model inspired by the\nfission-fusion society of Spider monkeys (Ateles spp). Our model introduces a\nrealistic, complex foraging environment composed of many resource patches with\nsize varying according to an inverse power-law frequency distribution with\nexponent $\\beta$. Foragers do not interact among them and start from random\ninitial locations. They have either a complete or partial knowledge of the\nenvironment and maximize the ratio between the size of the next visited patch\nand the distance traveled to it, ignoring previously visited patches. At\nintermediate values of $\\beta$, when large patches are neither too scarce nor\ntoo abundant, foragers form groups (coincide at the same patch) with a similar\nsize frequency distribution as the spider monkey\u0027s subgroups. Fission-fusion\nevents create a network of associations that contains weak bonds among foragers\nthat meet only rarely and strong bonds among those that repeat associations\nmore frequently than would be expected by chance. The latter form sub-networks\nwith the highest number of bonds and a high clustering coefficient at\nintermediate values of $\\beta$. The weak bonds enable the whole social network\nto percolate. Some of our results are similar to those found in long-term field\nstudies of spider monkeys and other fission-fusion species. We conclude that\nhypotheses about the ecological causes of fission-fusion and the origin of\ncomplex social structures should consider the heterogeneity and complexity of\nthe environment in which social animals live.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0511040",
"authors": [
"Gabriel Ramos-Fern\u00e1ndez",
"Denis Boyer",
"Vian P. G\u00f3mez"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.PE",
"cond-mat.dis-nn"
],
"title": "A complex social structure with fission-fusion properties can emerge from a simple foraging model",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0511040"
},
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