23,757 research outputs found
Resource location based on precomputed partial random walks in dynamic networks
The problem of finding a resource residing in a network node (the
\emph{resource location problem}) is a challenge in complex networks due to
aspects as network size, unknown network topology, and network dynamics. The
problem is especially difficult if no requirements on the resource placement
strategy or the network structure are to be imposed, assuming of course that
keeping centralized resource information is not feasible or appropriate. Under
these conditions, random algorithms are useful to search the network. A
possible strategy for static networks, proposed in previous work, uses short
random walks precomputed at each network node as partial walks to construct
longer random walks with associated resource information. In this work, we
adapt the previous mechanisms to dynamic networks, where resource instances may
appear in, and disappear from, network nodes, and the nodes themselves may
leave and join the network, resembling realistic scenarios. We analyze the
resulting resource location mechanisms, providing expressions that accurately
predict average search lengths, which are validated using simulation
experiments. Reduction of average search lengths compared to simple random walk
searches are found to be very large, even in the face of high network
volatility. We also study the cost of the mechanisms, focusing on the overhead
implied by the periodic recomputation of partial walks to refresh the
information on resources, concluding that the proposed mechanisms behave
efficiently and robustly in dynamic networks.Comment: 39 pages, 25 figure
From single steps to mass migration: the problem of scale in the movement ecology of the Serengeti wildebeest
A central question in ecology is how to link processes that occur over
different scales. The daily interactions of individual organisms ultimately
determine community dynamics, population fluctuations and the functioning
of entire ecosystems. Observations of these multiscale ecological
processes are constrained by various technological, biological or logistical
issues, and there are often vast discrepancies between the scale at which
observation is possible and the scale of the question of interest. Animal
movement is characterized by processes that act over multiple spatial and
temporal scales. Second-by-second decisions accumulate to produce
annual movement patterns. Individuals influence, and are influenced by,
collective movement decisions, which then govern the spatial distribution
of populations and the connectivity of meta-populations. While the
field of movement ecology is experiencing unprecedented growth in the
availability of movement data, there remain challenges in integrating
observations with questions of ecological interest. In this article, we present
the major challenges of addressing these issues within the context of the
Serengeti wildebeest migration, a keystone ecological phenomena that
crosses multiple scales of space, time and biological complexity.
This article is part of the theme issue âCollective movement ecologyâ
Effect of resource spatial correlation and Hunter-Fisher-Gatherer mobility on social cooperation in Tierra del Fuego
This article presents an agent-based model designed to explore the development of cooperation
in hunter-fisher-gatherer societies that face a dilemma of sharing an unpredictable resource
that is randomly distributed in space. The model is a stylised abstraction of the
Yamana society, which inhabited the channels and islands of the southernmost part of
Tierra del Fuego (Argentina-Chile). According to ethnographic sources, the Yamana developed
cooperative behaviour supported by an indirect reciprocity mechanism: whenever
someone found an extraordinary confluence of resources, such as a beached whale, they
would use smoke signals to announce their find, bringing people together to share food and
exchange different types of social capital. The model provides insight on how the spatial
concentration of beachings and agentsâ movements in the space can influence cooperation.
We conclude that the emergence of informal and dynamic communities that operate as a
vigilance network preserves cooperation and makes defection very costly.MICINN http://www.idi.mineco.gob.es/ CSD2010-00034 (SimulPast CONSOLIDER-INGENIO 2010) and HAR2009-06996; the government of Castilla y LeĂłnhttp://www.jcyl.es/ GREX251-2009; the Argentine CONICET http://www.conicet.gov.ar/PIP-0706; and the Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Researchhttp://www.wennergren.org/ "Social Aggregation: A Yamana Society's Short Term Episode to Analyse Social Interaction, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina". The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscrip
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