We study the use of local heuristics to determine spanning subgraphs for use
in the dissemination of information in complex networks. We introduce two
different heuristics and analyze their behavior in giving rise to spanning
subgraphs that perform well in terms of allowing every node of the network to
be reached, of requiring relatively few messages and small node bandwidth for
information dissemination, and also of stretching paths with respect to the
underlying network only modestly. We contribute a detailed mathematical
analysis of one of the heuristics and provide extensive simulation results on
random graphs for both of them. These results indicate that, within certain
limits, spanning subgraphs are indeed expected to emerge that perform well in
respect to all requirements. We also discuss the spanning subgraphs' inherent
resilience to failures and adaptability to topological changes