dorsal/arxiv
View SchemaScale-free foraging by primates emerges from their interaction with a complex environment
| Authors | Denis Boyer, Gabriel Ramos-Fernández, Octavio Miramontes, José L. Mateos, Germinal Cocho, Hernán Larralde, Humberto Ramos, Fernando Rojas |
|---|---|
| Categories | |
| ArXiv ID | q-bio/0601024 |
| URL | https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0601024 |
Abstract
Scale-free foraging patterns are widespread among animals. These may be the outcome of an optimal searching strategy to find scarce randomly distributed resources, but a less explored alternative is that this behaviour may result from the interaction of foraging animals with a particular distribution of resources. We introduce a simple foraging model where individuals follow mental maps and choose their displacements according to a maximum efficiency criterion, in a spatially disordered environment containing many trees with a heterogeneous size distribution. We show that a particular tree size frequency distribution induces non-Gaussian movement patterns with multiple spatial scales (L\'evy walks). These results are consistent with tree size variation and Spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) foraging patterns. We discuss the consequences that our results may have for the patterns of seed dispersal by foraging primates.
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"abstract": "Scale-free foraging patterns are widespread among animals. These may be the\noutcome of an optimal searching strategy to find scarce randomly distributed\nresources, but a less explored alternative is that this behaviour may result\nfrom the interaction of foraging animals with a particular distribution of\nresources. We introduce a simple foraging model where individuals follow mental\nmaps and choose their displacements according to a maximum efficiency\ncriterion, in a spatially disordered environment containing many trees with a\nheterogeneous size distribution. We show that a particular tree size frequency\ndistribution induces non-Gaussian movement patterns with multiple spatial\nscales (L\\\u0027evy walks). These results are consistent with tree size variation\nand Spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi) foraging patterns. We discuss the\nconsequences that our results may have for the patterns of seed dispersal by\nforaging primates.",
"arxiv_id": "q-bio/0601024",
"authors": [
"Denis Boyer",
"Gabriel Ramos-Fern\u00e1ndez",
"Octavio Miramontes",
"Jos\u00e9 L. Mateos",
"Germinal Cocho",
"Hern\u00e1n Larralde",
"Humberto Ramos",
"Fernando Rojas"
],
"categories": [
"q-bio.PE",
"cond-mat.dis-nn"
],
"title": "Scale-free foraging by primates emerges from their interaction with a complex environment",
"url": "https://arxiv.org/abs/q-bio/0601024"
},
"schema_id": "dorsal/arxiv",
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"variant": "snapshot-2026-03-01",
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