Memory Effects on Movement Behavior in Animal Foraging.
An individual's choices are shaped by its experience, a fundamental property of behavior important to understanding complex processes. Learning and memory are observed across many taxa and can drive behaviors, including foraging behavior. To explore the conditions under which memory provides an advantage, we present a continuous-space, continuous-time model of animal movement that incorporates learning and memory. Using simulation models, we evaluate the benefit memory provides across several types of landscapes with variable-quality resources and compare the memory model within a nested hierarchy of simpler models (behavioral switching and random walk). We find that memory almost always leads to improved foraging success, but that this effect is most marked in landscapes containing sparse, contiguous patches of high-value resources that regenerate relatively fast and are located in an otherwise devoid landscape. In these cases, there is a large payoff for finding a resource patch, due to size, value, or locational difficulty. While memory-informed search is difficult to differentiate from other factors using solely movement data, our results suggest that disproportionate spatial use of higher value areas, higher consumption rates, and consumption variability all point to memory influencing the movement direction of animals in certain ecosystems.
Quantitative Ecology and Resource Management, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, United States of America; Senckenberg Biodiversity and Climate Research Centre (BiK-F), Senckenberg Gesellschaft für Naturforschung and Goethe Universität Frankfurt, Frankfurt (Main), Germany.
Chloe
C
Bracis
Department of Biology, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, United States of America.
Eliezer
E
Gurarie
Centre for Conservation Biology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway; Norwegian Institute for Nature Research (NINA), Trondheim, Norway.
Bram
B
Van Moorter
Environmental Laboratory, US Army Engineer Research and Development Center, Portland, Oregon, United States of America.
R Andrew
RA
Goodwin
D000818:Animals; D001070:Appetitive Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003198:Computer Simulation; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D007858:Learning; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology*; D008568:Memory / Q000502:physiology*; D008954:Models, Biological; D013037:Spatial Behavior / Q000502:physiology*