Linked Life Data

20410036

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/20410036

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
1694
pubmed:dateCreated
2010-7-28
pubmed:abstractText
In social insects, the nests of the same species can show a large difference in size and shape. Despite these large variations, the nests share the same substructures, some appearing during nest growth. In ants, the interplay between nest size and digging activity leads to two successive morphological transitions from circular to branched shapes (budding along the perimeter of the circular cavity and tunnelling of the galleries). Like several other self-organized collective behaviours, this phenomenon, as well as the entire nest-digging process, is thought to be modulated by environmental properties. The present study investigates the effect of excavated substrate on the nest morphogenesis and the morphological transitions by using two materials with different cohesions. Here, we show that the two morphological transitions occur more frequently with a cohesive substrate than with a granular one: 96 per cent of cohesive experiments showed both transitions, whereas only 50 per cent did in granular experiments. We found that transitions and excavation cessation follow area-response thresholds: the shape transitions take place and the digging activity stops when the dug area reaches the corresponding threshold values. The shape transition thresholds are lower with the cohesive substrate and that of stopping digging is independent of nest shape and material. According to simulations, the experimental frequencies of transitions found their origin in the competition between transitions and activity cessation and in the difference between the transition threshold values of each substrate. Our results demonstrate how the substrate properties modulate the collective response and lead to various patterns. Considering the non-specific mechanisms at work, such effects of substrate coarseness have their counterparts in various collective behaviours, generating alternative patterns to colonize and exploit the environment.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-11544898, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-12086999, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-15234623, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-15455039, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-15517133, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-15861235, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-16341250, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-16553306, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-17015288, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-17689556, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-17758813, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-18221944, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-18668265, http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/commentcorrection/20410036-19106304
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Sep
pubmed:issn
1471-2954
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
7
pubmed:volume
277
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
2617-25
pubmed:dateRevised
2011-9-13
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2010
pubmed:articleTitle
Excavated substrate modulates growth instability during nest building in ants.
pubmed:affiliation
Service d'Ecologie Sociale, CP231, Université libre de Bruxelles, Plaine Campus, Boulevard du Triomphe, 1050 Bruxelles, Belgium. etoffin@ulb.ac.be
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't