10.5061/DRYAD.9W0VT4BJB
Richardson, Thomas
0000-0002-0220-4897
University of Bristol
Stroeymeyt, Nathalie
University of Bristol
Crespi, Alessandro
École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne
Keller, Laurent
University of Lausanne
Two simple movement mechanisms for spatial division of labour in social insects
Dryad
dataset
2022
FOS: Biological sciences
social insects
collective behaviour
Dynamical systems
tracking
individual-based tracking
Bipartite networks
community detection
Division of labour
temporal polyethism
spatial heterogeneity
spatial partitioning
spatial segregation
Spatial networks
movement ecology
European Commission
https://ror.org/00k4n6c32
30114
European Research Council
https://ror.org/0472cxd90
802628
European Research Council
https://ror.org/0472cxd90
249375
European Research Council
https://ror.org/0472cxd90
741491
2022-11-14T00:00:00Z
2022-11-14T00:00:00Z
en
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6787674
21610072460 bytes
5
CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication
Many animal species divide space into a patchwork of home ranges, yet
there is little consensus on the mechanisms individuals use to maintain
fidelity to particular locations. Theory suggests that animal movement
could be based upon simple behavioural rules that use local information
such as olfactory deposits, or global strategies, such as long-range
biases toward landmarks. However, empirical studies have rarely attempted
to distinguish between these mechanisms. Here, we perform individual
tracking experiments on four species of social insects, and find that
colonies consist of different groups of workers that inhabit separate but
partially-overlapping spatial zones. Our trajectory analysis and
simulations suggest that worker movement is consistent with two local
mechanisms: one in which workers increase movement diffusivity outside
their primary zone, and another in which workers modulate turning
behaviour when approaching zone boundaries. Parallels with other organisms
suggest that local mechanisms might represent a universal method for
spatial partitioning in animal populations.
Individual trajectories collected by automated tracking using barcode
tags. See the Methods section in the main paper, the Supporting
Information and the Nature Reporting Summary for details on the tracking.
This repository contains the raw data for the publication: Richardson,
T.O., Stroeymeyt, N.S., Crespi, A., & Keller, L. "Two simple
movement mechanisms for spatial division of labour in social
insects". Nature Communications. In press. Code for constructing the
bipartite spatial networks, and for the simulations can be found in the
following Zenodo repository: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.6787674