Aggregation as an antipredator strategy in the rock-paper-scissors model

We study a nonhierarchical tritrophic system, whose predator-prey interactions are described by the rock-paper scissors game rules. In our stochastic simulations, individuals may move strategically towards the direction with more conspecifics to form clumps instead of moving aimlessly on the lattice. Considering that the conditioning to move gregariously depends on the organism's physical and cognitive abilities, we introduce a maximum distance an individual can perceive the environment and a minimum conditioning level to perform the gregarious movement. We investigate the pattern formation and compute the average size of the single-species spatial domains emerging from the grouping behaviour. The results reveal that the defence tactic reduces the predation risk significantly, being more profitable if individuals perceive further distances, thus creating bigger groups. Our outcomes show that the species with more conditioned organisms dominate the cyclic spatial game, controlling most of the territory. On the other hand, the species with fewer individuals ready to perform aggregation strategy gives its predator the chance to fill the more significant fraction of the grid. The spatial interactions assumed in our numerical experiments constitute a data set that may help biologists and data scientists understand how local interactions influence ecosystem dynamics.

Automated summary

We studied a nonhierarchical tritrophic system using the rock-paper scissors game rules to describe the predator-prey interactions. Our stochastic simulations showed that individuals can strategically move towards areas with more of their own kind to form clusters. We introduced a maximum perception distance and a minimum conditioning level to investigate the effect of physical and cognitive abilities on this gregarious behavior. The results revealed that the defense strategy significantly reduces predation risk and is more profitable when individuals can perceive further distances, leading to the formation of larger groups. The dominance in the cyclic spatial game is observed in species with more conditioned organisms, while species with fewer individuals ready to perform aggregation strategy give their predators the opportunity to occupy a larger fraction of the territory. The spatial interactions studied in our numerical experiments provide valuable insights for biologists and data scientists to understand how local interactions influence ecosystem dynamics.