Madrzyk Max, Pinter-Wollman Noa
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.
Curr Zool. 2022 Aug 23;69(5):585-591. doi: 10.1093/cz/zoac065. eCollection 2023 Oct.
Individual differences in behavior have large consequences for the way in which ecology impacts fitness. Individuals differ in how they explore their environment and how exploratory behavior benefits them. In group-living animals, behavioral heterogeneity can be beneficial because different individuals perform different tasks. For example, exploratory individuals may discover new food sources and recruit group members to exploit the food, while less exploratory individuals forgo the risks of exploration. Here we ask how individual variation in exploratory behavior affects the ability of Argentine ant colonies to (1) locate novel food sources, (2) exploit known food resources, and (3) respond to disruptions while foraging. To address these questions, we conducted field experiments on foraging trails in which we manipulated food availability near and at the foraging trails and disrupted the foraging trails. We sampled individuals based on their response to the perturbations in the field and tested their exploratory behavior in the lab. We found that exploratory individuals benefit the colony by locating novel foods and increasing resource exploitation, but they do not play an important role in the recovery of a foraging trail after disruption. Thus, the benefits of behavioral heterogeneity to the group, specifically in exploratory behavior, differ across ecological contexts.
行为上的个体差异对生态影响适合度的方式有着重大影响。个体在探索环境的方式以及探索行为如何使其受益方面存在差异。在群居动物中，行为异质性可能是有益的，因为不同个体执行不同的任务。例如，爱探索的个体可能会发现新的食物来源并召集群体成员去利用这些食物，而不太爱探索的个体则避免了探索的风险。在这里，我们探讨探索行为的个体差异如何影响阿根廷蚁群：（1）定位新食物来源、（2）利用已知食物资源以及（3）在觅食时应对干扰的能力。为了解决这些问题，我们在觅食路径上进行了野外实验，在实验中我们操纵了觅食路径附近和路径上的食物可利用性，并干扰了觅食路径。我们根据个体在野外对干扰的反应进行采样，并在实验室中测试它们的探索行为。我们发现，爱探索的个体通过定位新食物和增加资源利用使蚁群受益，但它们在觅食路径被干扰后的恢复过程中并不起重要作用。因此，行为异质性对群体的益处，特别是在探索行为方面，在不同的生态环境中有所不同。
