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LuisanaT's picture

Luisana and Kate

Ant colony ants:

It appears as though each ant came with a predetermined occupation: forager, patroller, or midden worker, each in their own respective area. With random motion, the some ants leave their own region but maintain the same percentage of 50% (forager), 25% (patroller), 25% (midden).

However, the numbers did fluctuate with time because as an ant encountered ants with a different "occupation" it would adopt that said occupation. Even with this technicality, the ratios still remained relatively constant.

It appeared as though a director could have been present to organize the function of the ants, but the ants clearly used hydrocarbons to organize themselves into the distinct percentages. The introduction of these hydrocarbons as dud ants would mislead the ants into believeing that there were more ants then there appeared and allow them to leave that region.

Similarly, the introduction of intruders functioned as a signal for the other ants to react. In this case, the ants would abandon their original "occupation" and remain in the same region until the intruders were eliminated. Intruders override the original occupation, suggesting a hierarchial activity structure.

Wolves and Sheep and Some Grass:

There was an inverse relation between the sheep and grass because they work together in a prey and predator relationship, where the sheep eat the grass , causing the grass population to decrease. This inevitably causes the sheep to starve and decrease in population.

Along these same lines, the sheep and wolves are also inversely related. There is always a greater number of sheep then wolves and always a greater number of grass than sheep. It should be noted that there is also a hierarchial construction here because of carrying capacity. As you move along this food chain of grass to sheeps to wolves, there is a general decrease in the amount of available energy.This forms a triangular shape in biomass where the grass population is at larger, bottom portion, the sheep in the middle, and the wolve at the top.

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