1. Dynamic networks in dominant ants: coping with environmental change
Social
insects are highly ecologically successful, with ants among the most
dominant groups worldwide. To explain this widespread ecological
success, we must understand colony organisation. This is particularly
important where colonies are challenged by local habitat management
activities. In one striking form of organization, some ant species
spread each colony across multiple socially connected nests: polydomy.
Polydomy affects colony success because food is transported along trails
connecting nests. Previous studies of polydomy focus on static nest
networks; in reality, polydomous species must survive unpredictable,
changeable environments. This project will use a well-mapped population
of the charismatic wood ant, Formica lugubris, to investigate how
forest management (e.g. thinning, grazing) affects colony organization,
and, by applying dynamic network analysis, will determine how
polydomous colonies use their interconnected network of nests to respond
to environmental change. This project involves empirical fieldwork and
network analysis; there is also scope for including theoretical
modelling.
This
project is a CASE partnership with The National Trust. This partnership
will facilitate direct contact with woodland site managers regarding
the ecological implications of woodland management activities.
How to apply
This
project is part of the NERC Doctoral Training Partnership in Adapting
to the Challenges of a Changing Environment (ACCE) and will be
co-supervised by Elva Robinson (Biology, University of York), Kate Parr
(Earth, Ocean & Ecological Sciences, Liverpool University) and Dan
Franks (Computer Science and Biology, University of York). The project
will start Oct 2016 and is competitively funded. UK/EU students only.
For more information about the project, ACCE and how to apply see: www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/nercdtp/nercproject16/
Informal inquiries are welcome: Elva.Robinson@york.ac.uk
2. Collective personalities in ant colonies
‘Animal
personalities’ occur when individual animals show consistent
behavioural patterns, stable through time and across contexts. Such
‘personalities’ have major ecological and evolutionary implications,
including for sexual selection, speciation rate and responsiveness to
environmental change [1]. Sociality is a key feature of a huge range of
animals, including humans. Social groups frequently behave in ways that
would not be expected from studying the component individuals in
isolation: groups themselves can have consistent, emergent ‘collective
personalities’. These group personalities can also have major ecological
consequences, including fitness effects [2]. Despite their importance,
we know very little about how group personalities emerge from individual
behaviour, because studying behaviour across multiple organisational
levels is challenging. We are therefore currently unable to predict how
social and environmental effects on individual behaviour will influence
group dynamics.
This
project will use ant colonies as a model system for understanding the
contributions of individuals to collective behaviour. It will go beyond
simply observing the emergence of group behaviour, to actually changing
collective personalities, by manipulating the contributions of
individuals. This will be achieved by combining radio-tagged ants with
the use of automatic doors to control the access of certain ants to
particular tasks or locations [3]. This will allow for the first time
the study of the mechanistic underpinnings of collective personality in
ant colonies. Manipulation experiments will modify the contributions of
individual ants to colony processes, with the aim of making predictable
changes to collective personality, and exploring the effects of these
changes on colony function and fitness.
How to apply
This
project will be co-supervised by Elva Robinson (Biology, University of
York) and Jamie Wood (Mathematics and Biology, University of York). The
project will start Oct 2016 and is competitively funded. UK/EU students
only. For more information about the project and how to apply see: http://www.york.ac.uk/biology/postgraduate/biologystudentship/biologydepartmentproject7/
Informal inquiries are welcome: Elva.Robinson@york.ac.uk