| Title |
Effect of density on traffic and velocity on trunk trails of Formica pratensis
|
|---|---|
| Published in |
The Science of Nature, March 2015
|
| DOI | 10.1007/s00114-015-1267-6 |
| Pubmed ID | |
| Authors |
C. Hönicke, P. Bliss, R. F. A. Moritz |
| Abstract |
The allocation of large numbers of workers facilitates the swift intake of locally available resources which is essential for ant colony survival. To organise the traffic between nest and food source, the black-meadow ant Formica pratensis establishes permanent trunk trails, which are maintained by the ants. To unravel the ant organisation and potential traffic rules on these trails, we analysed velocity and lane segregation under various densities by experimentally changing feeding regimes. Even under the highest ant densities achieved, we never observed any traffic jams. On the contrary, velocity increased after supplementary feeding despite an enhanced density. Furthermore, inbound ants returning to the nest had a higher velocity than those leaving the colony. Whilst at low and medium density the ants used the centre of the trail, they used the full width of the trail at high density. Outbound ants also showed some degree of lane segregation which contributes to traffic organisation. |
X Demographics
The data shown below were collected from the profiles of 10 X users who shared this research output. Click here to find out more about how the information was compiled.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Belgium | 1 | 10% |
| United States | 1 | 10% |
| France | 1 | 10% |
| Unknown | 7 | 70% |
Demographic breakdown
| Type | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Members of the public | 7 | 70% |
| Science communicators (journalists, bloggers, editors) | 1 | 10% |
| Scientists | 1 | 10% |
| Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 1 | 10% |
Mendeley readers
The data shown below were compiled from readership statistics for 57 Mendeley readers of this research output. Click here to see the associated Mendeley record.
Geographical breakdown
| Country | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| United States | 2 | 4% |
| India | 1 | 2% |
| Portugal | 1 | 2% |
| Unknown | 53 | 93% |
Demographic breakdown
| Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Student > Ph. D. Student | 12 | 21% |
| Researcher | 6 | 11% |
| Student > Master | 6 | 11% |
| Student > Bachelor | 6 | 11% |
| Other | 5 | 9% |
| Other | 15 | 26% |
| Unknown | 7 | 12% |
| Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
|---|---|---|
| Agricultural and Biological Sciences | 33 | 58% |
| Unspecified | 2 | 4% |
| Environmental Science | 2 | 4% |
| Social Sciences | 2 | 4% |
| Psychology | 2 | 4% |
| Other | 5 | 9% |
| Unknown | 11 | 19% |
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 107. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 11 December 2015.
All research outputs
#354,484
of 23,794,258 outputs
Outputs from The Science of Nature
#47
of 2,195 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#4,338
of 264,915 outputs
Outputs of similar age from The Science of Nature
#1
of 19 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 23,794,258 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 98th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 2,195 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 13.5. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 97% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 264,915 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 98% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 19 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.