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Summary: vol. 162, no. 5 the american naturalist november 2003
Optimization, Conflict, and Nonoverlapping
Foraging Ranges in Ants
Frederick R. Adler1,* and Deborah M. Gordon2,
1. Department of Mathematics and Department of Biology,
University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112;
2. Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University,
Stanford, California 94305-5020
Submitted October 29, 2002; Accepted April 7, 2003;
Electronically published November 6, 2003
abstract: An organism's foraging range depends on the behavior
of neighbors, the dynamics of resources, and the availability of in-
formation. We use a well-studied population of the red harvester ant
Pogonomyrmex barbatus to develop and independently parameterize
models that include these three factors. The models solve for an
allocation of foraging ants in the area around the nest in response
to other colonies. We compare formulations that optimize at the
colony or individual level and those that do or do not include costs
of conflict. Model predictions were compared with data collected on
ant time budgets and ant density. The strategy that optimizes at the
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