Resource acquisition by societies part 2 Flashcards

1
Q

Categories of collective foraging strategies in social organisms

A
  1. Individual recruitment.
  2. Mass recruitment.
  3. Collective foraging.
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2
Q

what does individual recruitment describe?

A

it describes mechanisms where one individual directly leads another individual to the food source

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3
Q

individual recruitment - what is communication used for?

A

constant contact

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4
Q

individual recruitment - what does recruitment rely on

A

relies on maintained connection between recruiter and recruit, and both actively maintain connection

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5
Q

define teaching

A

Behavioral modification by an experienced individual in the presence of a naive observer, at some initial cost, in order to set an example so that the naive observer learns more quickly.

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6
Q

individual recruitment - example

A

Tandem running in the acorn ants

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7
Q

individual recruitment - tandem running in the acorn ants

A
  • The recruit follows the leader closely, frequently touching recruiter
  • If this touching is interrupted, the leading ant will remain in place and wait until the recruit catches up.
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8
Q

tandem running in acorn ants - how does it fulfill the criteria for teaching

A

because the recruiter modifies its behavior for naive recruits, and pattern of interaction is adjusted among individuals — each recruit is different

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9
Q

What are the main limitations of individual recruitment?

A

Individual recruitment is 1 to 1, does not persist for reuse, and requires slowed performance during recruitment.

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10
Q

what is mass recruitment characterized by?

A

by broadcast information that goes from one-to-many

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11
Q

mass recruitment - explain the signal

A

Repeatable and or persistent signal to food source that is both followed by recruits in the absence of the recruiter, and potentially reinforced by recruits.

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12
Q

mass recruitment - what controls the long-term rate of recruitment?

A

reinforced information by recruits

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13
Q

mass recruitment - how can the signal decay

A

Signal strength will decay as food resources become depleted and recruits return with diminished or no loads and do not reinforce the signal

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14
Q

Benefits of mass recruitment

A
  • Collective problem solving
  • Increased efficiency in conveying information
  • Rapid recruitment to large food sources
  • Rapid defense of large food sources
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15
Q

benefits of mass recruitment - what does collective problem solving do?

A

reduces individual error

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16
Q

benefits of mass recruitment - what does increased efficiency in conveying information do?

A

it broadcasts information and allows rapid dissemination, not limited to individual contact.

17
Q

benefits of mass recruitment - what does rapid recruitment to large food sources do?

A

Elevates competitive capacity due to group-level presence at resources.

18
Q

benefits of mass recruitment - what does rapid defense of large food sources do?

A

Extends access to rich food resources

19
Q

define collective foraging

A

a strategy where food is both discovered and harvested by a communicating social group.

20
Q

collective foraging - examples

A
  • army ants
  • many mammals that practice group hunting
21
Q

collective foraging - mammals and group hunting

A
  • lions, chimpanzees, hyenas
  • they are all “pack hunters”, where prey is stalked and then captured by an integrated, communicating group of individuals
22
Q

Most likely form of communication used in collective foraging?

A

mass communication

23
Q

collective foraging and mass communication - examples

A
  • group hunting of termites
  • group hunting of leaf-litter arthropods
24
Q

Collective foraging is ________________________ that has __________________________________ in insect societies, and in the form of _____________________________.

A
  • a derived social foraging strategy
  • evolved many times independently
  • group hunting in mammal societies.
25
Q

what are considered the extremes of collective foraging

A

Collective load retrieval and specialized foraging castes

26
Q

collective load retrieval and specialized foraging castes - example

A

army ants

27
Q

Collective load retrieval and foraging castes in army ants

A

Specialized transport castes (“porters”, or “submajors”).

28
Q

Collective load retrieval and foraging castes in army ants - explain the team formation

A
  • Team formation for items too large to be transported by one individual.
  • Porter caste leads, smaller individuals carry in the rear of the object.
29
Q

Collective load retrieval and foraging castes in army ants - explain the team composition

A
  • it is a dynamic team composition
  • driven by frictional interaction with the substrate and a decrease in optimal retrieval speed
30
Q

Collective foraging and load retrieval without teams

A
  • Per capita efficiency (speed and loading) is lower in groups.
  • Large items represent resources that would be unattainable without groups
31
Q

Collective foraging and load retrieval without teams - as groups get larger, what happens to efficiency

A
  • they get less efficient per capita, but retrieval speed of item increases
  • they sacrifice individual efficiency for group success in accessing novel resources.
32
Q

Ecological influences on the evolution of food acquisition — all may be interlinked in association with what major transition in foraging strategy?

A
  1. Habitat preferences.
  2. Resource distribution.
  3. Group size.
  4. Capacity for social foraging.
33
Q

Evolution of seed milling

A

Phylogenetic analyses with ecological data reveals seed miller transition evolved early and often, and coupled with multiple origins of extra caste.

34
Q

Evolution of fungus agriculture

A

Culminates in most complex form in
leaf-cutting ants

35
Q

evolution of fungus agriculture: leaf-cutting ants - what does it involve

A
  • Highly specific fungal strains.
  • Complex group foraging strategies for harvesting leaf material.
  • Complex caste system for harvesting, transporting, and processing leaf material
36
Q

evolution of fungus agriculture - simplest form

A

growing free-living fungus on insect frass (aka poop) and dead bits of insects

37
Q

evolution of fungus agriculture - most complex form

A

growing obligate fungal mutualist on freshly harvested and extensively processed plant material.

38
Q

Habitat conditions and transitions in agriculture

A

Shift to highly specific fungal lineages and “higher agriculture” is associated with evolutionary history in dry tropical habitats