Search results for "self-organisation"
showing 3 items of 3 documents
Hierarchical networks of food exchange in the black garden ant Lasius niger
2020
In most eusocial insects, the division of labour results in relatively few individuals foraging for the entire colony. Thus, the survival of the colony depends on its efficiency in meeting the nutritional needs of all its members. Here, we characterise the network topology of a eusocial insect to understand the role and centrality of each caste in this network during the process of food dissemination. We constructed trophallaxis networks from 34 food-exchange experiments in black garden ants (Lasius niger). We tested the influence of brood and colony size on (i) global indices at the network level (i.e. efficiency, resilience, centralisation and modularity) and (ii) individual values (i.e. …
Living and Not-living Matter: Complexity and Self-Organisation in Kauffman
2016
Which is the relation between the living and not-living matter? In this paper I’ll try to give this question an answer and to explore the underlying framework. I think that the theoretical biologist Stuart Kauffman develops an outstanding and interesting approach, which is formulated within the research field of the non-equilibrium chaotic systems dynamics, the theory of complexity and self-organization and the recent debate on the evolution. Therefore, my aim is to show the way in which Kauffman employs the concept of self-organization to build a not reductionist model that may account for the issues concerning the living and not-living matter by integrating physics with biology. In genera…