Optimal intermittence in search strategies under speed-selective target detection.
Random search theory has been previously explored for both continuous and intermittent scanning modes with full target detection capacity. Here we present a new class of random search problems in which a single searcher performs flights of random velocities, the detection probability when it passes over a target location being conditioned to the searcher speed. As a result, target detection involves an N-passage process for which the mean search time is here analytically obtained through a renewal approximation. We apply the idea of speed-selective detection to random animal foraging since a fast movement is known to significantly degrade perception abilities in many animals. We show that speed-selective detection naturally introduces an optimal level of behavioral intermittence in order to solve the compromise between fast relocations and target detection capability.
Departament de Física, Facultat de Ciències, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193 Bellaterra (Barcelona) Spain.
Daniel
D
Campos
Vicenç
V
Méndez
Frederic
F
Bartumeus