title: Optimal search in interacting populations: Gaussian jumps versus Lévy flights.
abstract: We investigated the relationships between search efficiency, movement strategy, and nonlocal communication in the biological context of animal foraging. We considered situations where the members of a population of foragers perform either Gaussian jumps or Lévy flights, and show that the search time is minimized when communication among individuals occurs at intermediate ranges, independently of the type of movement. Additionally, while Brownian strategies are more strongly influenced by the communication mechanism, Lévy flights still result in shorter overall search durations.
authors.affiliation: IFISC, Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (CSIC-UIB), E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Ricardo
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Martínez-García
authors.affiliation: Conservation Ecology Center, Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute, National Zoological Park, 1500 Remount Rd., Front Royal, Virginia 22630, USA.
authors.forename: Justin M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Calabrese
authors.affiliation: IFISC, Instituto de Física Interdisciplinar y Sistemas Complejos (CSIC-UIB), E-07122 Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristóbal
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: López
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003142:Communication; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D005247:Feeding Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008954:Models, Biological; D015233:Models, Statistical; D016011:Normal Distribution; D011157:Population Dynamics; D012919:Social Behavior