Individual – to – resource landscape interaction strength can explain different collective feeding behaviours

• Published in: PLoS ONE
• Main Authors: Bode, Nikolai WF, Delcourt, Johann
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Public Library of Science 2013
• Subjects: feeding behaviour; stigmergy; collective behaviour; foraging strategy; vortex; swirling behaviour; shoveler; shoveller; ducks; Anatidae; filtering behaviour; birds; IBM; Anas rhynchotis; tortuosity; angular momentum; nutrient field; dynamical behaviour; individual-environment interactions; aggregation; animal group; group size; computer simulations; depleting nutrient; movement paths; collective paths; grazing; ponds; tadpoles; population density; momentum; vortices; animal motion; animal path; water perturbation; food suspension; food consumption; planctonophageous; plancton predation; collective feeding technic; nutrient diffusion; Individual based model; milling; rotative group; self-organisation; Social & behavioral sciences; psychology; Animal psychology; ethology & psychobiology; Life sciences; Shoveler
• Online Access: https://orbi.uliege.be/handle/2268/157200; https://orbi.uliege.be/bitstream/2268/157200/1/Bode%20%26%20Delcourt%20PLos%20One%202013.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0075879

peer reviewed Taking in sufficient quantities of nutrients is vital for all living beings and in doing so, individuals interact with the local resource environment. Here, we focus explicitly on the interactions between feeding individuals and the resource landscape. In particular, we are interested in the emergent movement dynamics resulting from these interactions. We present an individual-based simulation model for the movement of populations in a resource landscape that allows us to vary the strength of the interactions mentioned above. The key assumption and novelty of our model is that individuals can cause the release of additional nutrients, as well as consuming them. Our model produces clear predictions. For example, we expect more tortuous individual movement paths and higher levels of aggregation in populations occupying homogeneous environments where individual movement makes more nutrients available. We also show how observed movement dynamics could change when local nutrient sources are depleted or when the population density increases. Our predictions are testable and qualitatively reproduce the different feeding behaviours observed in filter-feeding ducks, for example. We suggest that considering two-way interactions between feeding individuals and resource landscapes could help to explain fine-scale movement dynamics.