Effects of tunnel structures of two termite species on territorial competition and territory size

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The foraging territories of 2 subterranean termites, Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki and Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar), were simulated using a model to explore how territorial intraspecific competition changes with 4 variables characterizing the formation of territory: the number of primary tunnels, N-0; the branching probability, P-branch; the number of territories, N; and the blocking probability, P-block. The blocking probability P-block quantitatively describes the probability that a tunnel will be terminated when another tunnel is encountered; higher P-block values indicate more likely termination. Higher tunnel-tunnel encounters led to denser tunnel networks. We defined a territory as a convex polygon containing a tunnel pattern and explored the effects of competition among termite colonies on territory size distribution at steady state attained after sufficient simulation time. At the beginning of the simulation, N = 10, 20,..., 100 initial territory seeds were randomly distributed within a square area. In our previous study, we introduced an interference coefficient gamma to characterize territorial competition. Higher gamma values imply higher limitations on network growth. We theoretically derived gamma as a function of P-block and N. In this study, we considered the constants in gamma as functions of N-0 and P-branch so as to quantitatively examine the effect of tunnel structure on territorial competition. By applying statistical regression to the simulation data, we determined the generalized gamma functions for both species. Under competitive conditions, territory size is most strongly affected by N-0, while the outcome of territorial competition is most strongly affected by N, followed by P-block and N-0. (C) 2014 Korean Society of Applied Entomology, Taiwan Entomological Society and Malaysian Plant Protection Society. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Publisher
KOREAN SOC APPLIED ENTOMOLOGY
Issue Date
2014-09
Language
English
Article Type
Article
Keywords

FOOD ENCOUNTER RATE; SUBTERRANEAN TERMITES; LANDSCAPE STRUCTURE; MANGROVE TERMITES; ISOPTERA; RHINOTERMITIDAE; SIMULATION; POPULATION; LOUISIANA; MODEL

Citation

JOURNAL OF ASIA-PACIFIC ENTOMOLOGY, v.17, no.3, pp.199 - 205

ISSN
1226-8615
DOI
10.1016/j.aspen.2014.01.004
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10203/192938
Appears in Collection
ME-Journal Papers(저널논문)
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