Abstract
A challenge faced by individuals and groups of many species is determining how resources and activities should be spatially distributed: centralized or decentralized. This distribution problem is hard to understand due to the many costs and benefits of each strategy in different settings. Ant colonies are faced by this problem and demonstrate two solutions: 1) centralizing resources in a single nest (monodomy) and 2) decentralizing by spreading resources across many nests (polydomy). Despite the possibilities for using this system to study the centralization/decentralization problem, the trade-offs associated with using either polydomy or monodomy are poorly understood due to a lack of empirical data and cohesive theory. Here, we present a dynamic network model of a population of ant nests which is based on observations of a facultatively polydomous ant species (Formica lugubris). We use the model to test several key hypotheses for costs and benefits of polydomy and monodomy and show that decentralization is advantageous when resource acquisition costs are high, nest size is limited, resources are clustered, and there is a risk of nest destruction, but centralization prevails when resource availability fluctuates and nest size is limited. Our model explains the phylogenetic and ecological diversity of polydomous ants, demonstrates several trade-offs of decentralization and centralization, and provides testable predictions for empirical work on ants and in other systems.
Highlights
Centralization and decentralization are opposing strategies for the spatial organization of resources or workers
The workforce and resources of most ant colonies are centralized in a single nest, which is known as monodomy
In the final general linear model (GLM), we find an effect of food source distribution on the frequency of polydomy (Table 2), with clustered food sources resulting in higher frequencies of polydomy than when food sources are randomly distributed (Figure 3)
Summary
Centralization and decentralization are opposing strategies for the spatial organization of resources or workers. Decentralization and centralization have many interacting costs and benefits, making it difficult to identify which should be adopted in a given context (Robinson 2014; Bernstein and Turban 2018; Ireland and Garnier 2018). One potential source of insights for the trade-offs between centralization and decentralization are ant colonies (Hölldobler and Lumsden 1980; Ireland and Garnier 2018). The workforce and resources of most ant colonies are centralized in a single nest, which is known as monodomy. Some ant species decentralize their colonies by dividing into several semi-autonomous subgroups that inhabit multiple nests, known as polydomy (Debout et al 2007) (Figure 1). Decentralization through polydomy is hypothesized to confer several benefits on colonies including: 1) reducing the risk of colony extinction, through spreading risk (Le Breton et al 2007; Van Wilgenburg and Elgar 2007; Robinson 2014); 2) enabling colonies to overcome population limits imposed by structural or organizational limitations on nest size (Van Wilgenburg and Elgar 2007; Robinson 2014); 3) improves colony foraging and defense through nests being well-distributed through the foraging area (Hölldobler and Lumsden 1980; Davidson 1997; Holway and Case 2001; Schmolke 2009; Lanan et al 2011; Cook et al 2013; Stroeymeyt et al 2017); 4) buffering
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