Resource Availability Affects Seasonal Trajectories of Population-Level Learning.

Area of Science:

• Ecology
• Animal Behavior
• Neuroscience

Background:

• Environmental factors, like nutrition, influence cognition.
• Seasonal environmental changes and their effects on learning trajectories are less understood.
• Developmental plasticity allows organisms to adjust traits based on environmental conditions, particularly nutrition.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how nutritional availability affects seasonal population-level learning trajectories.
• To test this hypothesis in bumble bees (Bombus), known for developmental plasticity.

Main Methods:

• Developed a theoretical model simulating bumble bee colony learning across a season.
• Parameterized the model with empirical life history data.
• Compared model predictions with empirical learning data from five bumble bee species.

Main Results:

• The model predicted two main seasonal learning trajectories: increasing or unchanging.
• Empirical data supported these findings, showing increased learning across the season in Bombus auricomus and Bombus pensylvanicus.
• No significant change in learning across the season was observed in Bombus bimaculatus, Bombus griseocollis, and Bombus impatiens.

Conclusions:

• Nutritional resources can influence seasonal population-level learning trajectories in species with developmentally plastic cognition.
• This highlights a novel consideration for understanding learning dynamics in variable environments.