Foraging strategies of the acellular slime moulds Didymium iridis and Didymium bahiense |
| |
Affiliation: | 1. Division of Urologic Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, DUMC 3831, Durham, NC 27710, USA;2. Research on Research Group, Department of Surgery, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA;3. Department of Urology, Children''s Hospital Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA;4. Department of Urology, Children''s Hospital of Boston, Boston, MA, USA;1. Department of Communicable Disease, Ministry of Health, PO Box 393, Oman;2. Department of Child Health, Royal Hospital, Oman;3. Central Public Health Laboratory, Ministry of Health, Oman;4. Department of Infection Prevention and Control, Nizwa General Hospital, Oman |
| |
Abstract: | Organisms can increase their foraging efficiency by modifying their behaviour according to information about the quality of currently exploited resource patches. Here we examine the effect of food concentration on the foraging strategies of two previously unstudied species of slime mould: Didymium iridis and Didymium bahiense. We studied two main foraging decisions: how long to wait before commencing exploration of the surrounding environment (exploitation strategy) and how intensely to search the environment for new opportunities (exploration strategy). Food concentration did not affect exploitation behaviour in either D. iridis or D. bahiense. Food concentration did affect exploration behaviour in D. iridis, but not in D. bahiense. Encounters with food resources, irrespective of concentration, resulted in increased exploitation and decreased exploration in D. iridis but did not influence foraging behaviour in D. bahiense. We suggest that the varying foraging strategies of slime moulds may have evolved to exploit different resource distributions in their natural environments. We also discuss the potential impact of microbial contamination and differences in handling regimes. |
| |
Keywords: | Area-restricted search Didymium Exploitation Exploration Foraging Myxomycetes Slime mould |
本文献已被 ScienceDirect 等数据库收录! |
|