Rael Loon (rael)

Below please see Sherry's really interesting response to the biomimicry significance of harvester termites. Please feel free to join in this debate. 'Matinyoka' can you perhaps also post your ideas here?


Hello Rael,
I think the pathway would also be important. Do harvester ants deviate much from a straight line back to the nest? In the US, the path between a harvest site and a processing site is rarely even close to being a straight line. One also has to take into account the energy efficiency of the farming itself such as the preparation of the soil for planting, planting, cultivating, and harvesting themselves, then add on the transportation. The transportation route might not be the most efficient, but combined with the other needs of the farm, it might be. Your cost:benefit analysis only covers transportation of the crops. It would be interesting to think about how we set up our fields and whether we are being the most efficient from an energy standpoint.

As for your main question, my first thought is always, "Well, I'm sure agriculture workers have already considered how to be most efficient." But then I realize that's not always true. For example, United Parcel Service greatly reduced the number of miles driven and fuel usage by more setting up their routes with mostly right turns. That meant less time idling at stop lights. The reason we need biomimicry is to think in new ways using ancient knowledge.

Other organisms that harvest and transport for storage include bees (pollen, nectar), some birds (Clark's Nutcracker, Acorn Woodpecker, Gray Jays, others in the US), squirrels, pikas, other ants, mice and voles, American beaver, and I'm sure lots more. Of course, lots of species collect food and return to a location to feed their young. The beaver is an interesting one because it moves into an area and harvests until most of the local foods are used up, then moves to another area. In the meantime, the shrubs and trees it harvested resprout and eventually beavers return to that site.

You might be interested in this researcher: http://www2.isye.gatech.edu/~carl/research.htm. He works with work scheduling, which is another thing we can learn from nature that might apply to agriculture.

Cost-benefit analyses in harvester termites and agricultural labour policies







Harvester termites seem to forage in order to optimize efficiency - i.e. save energy. It is useful watching termites foraging using a cost-benefit analyses approach. Individual termites leave their central hole and gather material to bring back into their subterranean mounds. It appears as though there are is a trade-off between two primary variables that determine how the termites forage: 1. distance from the base and 2. size of material harvested. In order to save energy, termites would prefer to forage as close to the central base as possible. Individual termites would prefer to minimize this cost. In contrast individual termites would prefer to harvest large items of material in order to maximize the benefit that these materials would provide to the colony as a whole.

Such a cost-benefit analyses could be applied to the agricultural sector whereby labourers harvest various types of produce from a central location. In order to minimize costs it is in the interests of the farming operation to gather materials as close to the source as possible. Similarly such an operation would like to maximize its benefits by harvesting larger items which would be of greater value to the company. The trade-off between distance from the central base and size of material harvested as in the termite colony could therefore apply directly to such a farming set-up.

Given such a parallel application, it may be insightful to consider real life examples which could apply to the agricultural sector. For example are there certain product which would be more relevant - e.g. rice/maize/tea/wheat/different types of fruit/vegetables etc? It could be interesting to find a specific example that applies closely with the harvester termite system as an analogy in order to demonstrate a direct application.

I am new to the field of Biomimicry, but would like to start a discussion about how we might learn more about effective website design and networking by studying spider webs in more detail. For example different species of spiders adopt different strategies depending on what prey they are targeting and the habitats within which they are found. Some spiders are generalists and like the typical orb web spinners target a range of prey which may get caught in their web. In contrast other spiders like the netcasting spider target specific prey by 'throwing' a sticky net over its victim. Others like the sociable spiders construct large masses of silk and live together as a 'community'.

Similarly, different people adopt different strategies in terms of attracting business. Some, like the orb web spinners are generalists and are content to try address a range of issues and concerns. Others like the netcasting spider are specialists and try to pinpoint and master a specific niche in the market. Then others like the social spiders cooperate as a group and work in a team to tackle larger issues. Therefore perhaps the strategies that spiders use can provide some insights into networking strategies in humans.

For more information about such spider strategies and web designs see www.TheSmall5005.com. Any comments are welcome.