| Scale-free correlations in starling flocks. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20547832 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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From bird flocks to fish schools, animal groups often seem to react to environmental perturbations as if of one mind. Most studies in collective animal behavior have aimed to understand how a globally ordered state may emerge from simple behavioral rules. Less effort has been devoted to understanding the origin of collective response, namely the way the group as a whole reacts to its environment. Yet, in the presence of strong predatory pressure on the group, collective response may yield a significant adaptive advantage. Here we suggest that collective response in animal groups may be achieved through scale-free behavioral correlations. By reconstructing the 3D position and velocity of individual birds in large flocks of starlings, we measured to what extent the velocity fluctuations of different birds are correlated to each other. We found that the range of such spatial correlation does not have a constant value, but it scales with the linear size of the flock. This result indicates that behavioral correlations are scale free: The change in the behavioral state of one animal affects and is affected by that of all other animals in the group, no matter how large the group is. Scale-free correlations provide each animal with an effective perception range much larger than the direct interindividual interaction range, thus enhancing global response to perturbations. Our results suggest that flocks behave as critical systems, poised to respond maximally to environmental perturbations. |
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Authors:
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Andrea Cavagna; Alessio Cimarelli; Irene Giardina; Giorgio Parisi; Raffaele Santagati; Fabio Stefanini; Massimiliano Viale |
Publication Detail:
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Type: Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2010-06-14 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Volume: 107 ISSN: 1091-6490 ISO Abbreviation: Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. Publication Date: 2010 Jun |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-07-09 Completed Date: 2010-08-11 Revised Date: 2010-09-30 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 7505876 Medline TA: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Country: United States |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 11865-70 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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Istituto dei Sistemi Complessi, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche, 00185 Rome, Italy. andrea.cavagna@roma1.infn.it |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Animal Migration
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physiology Animals Behavior, Animal / physiology* Ecosystem Female Flight, Animal / physiology Homing Behavior / physiology Imaging, Three-Dimensional Male Models, Biological Social Behavior* Starlings / physiology* |
| Comments/Corrections | |
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