Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants

Autores
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; Chinchilla, Federico; Umaña, Maria Natalia; Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena; Chauta Mellizo, Alexander; Acosta Rojas, Diana; Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía; de Torres Curth, Monica Irma; Amador Vargas, Sabrina
Año de publicación
2015
Idioma
inglés
Tipo de recurso
artículo
Estado
versión publicada
Descripción
The design of transport paths in consuming entities that use routes to access food should be under strong selective pressures to reduce costs and increase benefits. We studied the adaptive nature of branching angles in foraging trail networks of the two most abundant tropical leaf-cutting ant species. We mathematically assessed how these angles should reflect the relative weight of the pressure for reducing either trail maintenance effort or traveling distances. Bifurcation angles of ant foraging trails strongly differed depending on the location of the nests. Ant colonies in open areas showed more acute branching angles, which best shorten travel distances but create longer new trail sections to maintain than a perpendicular branch, suggesting that trail maintenance costs are smaller compared to the benefit of reduced traveling distance. Conversely, ant colonies in forest showed less acute branching angles, indicating that maintenance costs are of larger importance relative to the benefits of shortening travel distances. The trail pattern evident in forests may be attributable to huge amounts of litterfall that increase trail maintenance costs, and the abundant canopy cover that reduces traveling costs by mitigating direct sunlight and rain. These results suggest that branching angles represent a trade-off between reducing maintenance work and shortening travel distances, illustrating how animal constructions can adjust to diverse environmental conditions. This idea may help to understand diverse networks systems, including urban travel networks.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Chinchilla, Federico. Estación Biológica Monteverde; Costa Rica
Fil: Umaña, Maria Natalia. The Field Museum; Estados Unidos
Fil: Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena. Universidad de Puerto Rico; Puerto Rico
Fil: Chauta Mellizo, Alexander. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Colombia
Fil: Acosta Rojas, Diana. Universidad del Valle; Colombia
Fil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina
Fil: de Torres Curth, Monica Irma. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Amador Vargas, Sabrina. University Of Texas; Estados Unidos
Materia
Ant Behavior
Atta Cephalotes
Atta Colombica
Costa Rica
Foraging Trails
Nivel de accesibilidad
acceso abierto
Condiciones de uso
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
Repositorio
CONICET Digital (CONICET)
Institución
Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
OAI Identificador
oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/12227
Acceder
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oai_identifier_str oai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/12227
network_acronym_str CONICETDig
repository_id_str 3498
network_name_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
spelling Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting antsFarji Brener, Alejandro GustavoChinchilla, FedericoUmaña, Maria NataliaOcasio Torres, Maria ElenaChauta Mellizo, AlexanderAcosta Rojas, DianaMarinaro Fuentes, María Sofíade Torres Curth, Monica IrmaAmador Vargas, SabrinaAnt BehaviorAtta CephalotesAtta ColombicaCosta RicaForaging Trailshttps://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1The design of transport paths in consuming entities that use routes to access food should be under strong selective pressures to reduce costs and increase benefits. We studied the adaptive nature of branching angles in foraging trail networks of the two most abundant tropical leaf-cutting ant species. We mathematically assessed how these angles should reflect the relative weight of the pressure for reducing either trail maintenance effort or traveling distances. Bifurcation angles of ant foraging trails strongly differed depending on the location of the nests. Ant colonies in open areas showed more acute branching angles, which best shorten travel distances but create longer new trail sections to maintain than a perpendicular branch, suggesting that trail maintenance costs are smaller compared to the benefit of reduced traveling distance. Conversely, ant colonies in forest showed less acute branching angles, indicating that maintenance costs are of larger importance relative to the benefits of shortening travel distances. The trail pattern evident in forests may be attributable to huge amounts of litterfall that increase trail maintenance costs, and the abundant canopy cover that reduces traveling costs by mitigating direct sunlight and rain. These results suggest that branching angles represent a trade-off between reducing maintenance work and shortening travel distances, illustrating how animal constructions can adjust to diverse environmental conditions. This idea may help to understand diverse networks systems, including urban travel networks.Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Chinchilla, Federico. Estación Biológica Monteverde; Costa RicaFil: Umaña, Maria Natalia. The Field Museum; Estados UnidosFil: Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena. Universidad de Puerto Rico; Puerto RicoFil: Chauta Mellizo, Alexander. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; ColombiaFil: Acosta Rojas, Diana. Universidad del Valle; ColombiaFil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; ArgentinaFil: de Torres Curth, Monica Irma. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; ArgentinaFil: Amador Vargas, Sabrina. University Of Texas; Estados UnidosEcological Society Of America2015-02info:eu-repo/semantics/articleinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersionhttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501info:ar-repo/semantics/articuloapplication/pdfapplication/pdfhttp://hdl.handle.net/11336/12227Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; Chinchilla, Federico; Umaña, Maria Natalia; Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena; Chauta Mellizo, Alexander; et al.; Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants; Ecological Society Of America; Ecology; 96; 2; 2-2015; 510–5170012-9658enginfo:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1890/14-0220.1info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/14-0220.1/abstractinfo:eu-repo/semantics/openAccesshttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas2025-09-29T10:24:21Zoai:ri.conicet.gov.ar:11336/12227instacron:CONICETInstitucionalhttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/Organismo científico-tecnológicoNo correspondehttp://ri.conicet.gov.ar/oai/requestdasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.arArgentinaNo correspondeNo correspondeNo correspondeopendoar:34982025-09-29 10:24:21.911CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicasfalse
dc.title.none.fl_str_mv Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants
title Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants
spellingShingle Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
Ant Behavior
Atta Cephalotes
Atta Colombica
Costa Rica
Foraging Trails
title_short Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants
title_full Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants
title_fullStr Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants
title_full_unstemmed Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants
title_sort Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants
dc.creator.none.fl_str_mv Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
Chinchilla, Federico
Umaña, Maria Natalia
Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena
Chauta Mellizo, Alexander
Acosta Rojas, Diana
Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía
de Torres Curth, Monica Irma
Amador Vargas, Sabrina
author Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
author_facet Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo
Chinchilla, Federico
Umaña, Maria Natalia
Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena
Chauta Mellizo, Alexander
Acosta Rojas, Diana
Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía
de Torres Curth, Monica Irma
Amador Vargas, Sabrina
author_role author
author2 Chinchilla, Federico
Umaña, Maria Natalia
Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena
Chauta Mellizo, Alexander
Acosta Rojas, Diana
Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía
de Torres Curth, Monica Irma
Amador Vargas, Sabrina
author2_role author
author
author
author
author
author
author
author
dc.subject.none.fl_str_mv Ant Behavior
Atta Cephalotes
Atta Colombica
Costa Rica
Foraging Trails
topic Ant Behavior
Atta Cephalotes
Atta Colombica
Costa Rica
Foraging Trails
purl_subject.fl_str_mv https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6
https://purl.org/becyt/ford/1
dc.description.none.fl_txt_mv The design of transport paths in consuming entities that use routes to access food should be under strong selective pressures to reduce costs and increase benefits. We studied the adaptive nature of branching angles in foraging trail networks of the two most abundant tropical leaf-cutting ant species. We mathematically assessed how these angles should reflect the relative weight of the pressure for reducing either trail maintenance effort or traveling distances. Bifurcation angles of ant foraging trails strongly differed depending on the location of the nests. Ant colonies in open areas showed more acute branching angles, which best shorten travel distances but create longer new trail sections to maintain than a perpendicular branch, suggesting that trail maintenance costs are smaller compared to the benefit of reduced traveling distance. Conversely, ant colonies in forest showed less acute branching angles, indicating that maintenance costs are of larger importance relative to the benefits of shortening travel distances. The trail pattern evident in forests may be attributable to huge amounts of litterfall that increase trail maintenance costs, and the abundant canopy cover that reduces traveling costs by mitigating direct sunlight and rain. These results suggest that branching angles represent a trade-off between reducing maintenance work and shortening travel distances, illustrating how animal constructions can adjust to diverse environmental conditions. This idea may help to understand diverse networks systems, including urban travel networks.
Fil: Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Chinchilla, Federico. Estación Biológica Monteverde; Costa Rica
Fil: Umaña, Maria Natalia. The Field Museum; Estados Unidos
Fil: Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena. Universidad de Puerto Rico; Puerto Rico
Fil: Chauta Mellizo, Alexander. Universidad Nacional de Colombia; Colombia
Fil: Acosta Rojas, Diana. Universidad del Valle; Colombia
Fil: Marinaro Fuentes, María Sofía. Universidad Nacional de Tucumán. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales e Instituto Miguel Lillo. Instituto de Ecología Regional; Argentina
Fil: de Torres Curth, Monica Irma. Universidad Nacional del Comahue. Centro Regional Universitario Bariloche. Laboratorio de Ecotono; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Patagonia Norte. Instituto de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Medioambiente; Argentina
Fil: Amador Vargas, Sabrina. University Of Texas; Estados Unidos
description The design of transport paths in consuming entities that use routes to access food should be under strong selective pressures to reduce costs and increase benefits. We studied the adaptive nature of branching angles in foraging trail networks of the two most abundant tropical leaf-cutting ant species. We mathematically assessed how these angles should reflect the relative weight of the pressure for reducing either trail maintenance effort or traveling distances. Bifurcation angles of ant foraging trails strongly differed depending on the location of the nests. Ant colonies in open areas showed more acute branching angles, which best shorten travel distances but create longer new trail sections to maintain than a perpendicular branch, suggesting that trail maintenance costs are smaller compared to the benefit of reduced traveling distance. Conversely, ant colonies in forest showed less acute branching angles, indicating that maintenance costs are of larger importance relative to the benefits of shortening travel distances. The trail pattern evident in forests may be attributable to huge amounts of litterfall that increase trail maintenance costs, and the abundant canopy cover that reduces traveling costs by mitigating direct sunlight and rain. These results suggest that branching angles represent a trade-off between reducing maintenance work and shortening travel distances, illustrating how animal constructions can adjust to diverse environmental conditions. This idea may help to understand diverse networks systems, including urban travel networks.
publishDate 2015
dc.date.none.fl_str_mv 2015-02
dc.type.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/article
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion
http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501
info:ar-repo/semantics/articulo
format article
status_str publishedVersion
dc.identifier.none.fl_str_mv http://hdl.handle.net/11336/12227
Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; Chinchilla, Federico; Umaña, Maria Natalia; Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena; Chauta Mellizo, Alexander; et al.; Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants; Ecological Society Of America; Ecology; 96; 2; 2-2015; 510–517
0012-9658
url http://hdl.handle.net/11336/12227
identifier_str_mv Farji Brener, Alejandro Gustavo; Chinchilla, Federico; Umaña, Maria Natalia; Ocasio Torres, Maria Elena; Chauta Mellizo, Alexander; et al.; Branching angles reflect a trade-off between reducing trail maintenance costs or travel distances in leaf-cutting ants; Ecological Society Of America; Ecology; 96; 2; 2-2015; 510–517
0012-9658
dc.language.none.fl_str_mv eng
language eng
dc.relation.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1890/14-0220.1
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/url/http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1890/14-0220.1/abstract
dc.rights.none.fl_str_mv info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
eu_rights_str_mv openAccess
rights_invalid_str_mv https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.5/ar/
dc.format.none.fl_str_mv application/pdf
application/pdf
dc.publisher.none.fl_str_mv Ecological Society Of America
publisher.none.fl_str_mv Ecological Society Of America
dc.source.none.fl_str_mv reponame:CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname:Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
reponame_str CONICET Digital (CONICET)
collection CONICET Digital (CONICET)
instname_str Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.name.fl_str_mv CONICET Digital (CONICET) - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas
repository.mail.fl_str_mv dasensio@conicet.gov.ar; lcarlino@conicet.gov.ar
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score 13.069144

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