Exploring the effects of high curvature section distribution and density in termite tunnels on food transport...

This study explores the food transport efficiency of termite using an individual-based model. Termites are believed to have evolved tunneling patterns that optimize food search and transport efficiency. However, few studies have investigated transport efficiency due to the difficulty of field observations. The model is characterized by four control variables: the number of simulated termites participating in transport (k₁), the distribution of high curvature sections of the termite tunnel (k₂), a quantity related to the density of the tunnel sections (k₃), and the duration of traffic jams (k₄). As k₃ increases, the total length of the high curvature section decreases. Our simulation results show that the E(k₁, k₂) maps for k₃ and k₄ contain two modes: Mode A shows that E decreases with increasing k₁ due to an increase in traffic jams, while Mode B shows E increasing with increasing k₁ due to a decrease in the density of curved sections and an increase in jamming resolution time. The partial rank correlation coefficient analysis reveals that k₁ and k₂ have a negative effect on E, while k₃ and k₄ have a positive effect, with k₁ having the greatest influence on E, followed by k₃, k₄, and k₂. The ecological implications of the simulation results are briefly described, and the limitations of the model are discussed.