scholarly journals Evidence for intermittency and a truncated power law from highly resolved aphid movement data

2009 ◽  
Vol 7 (42) ◽  
pp. 199-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alla Mashanova ◽  
Tom H. Oliver ◽  
Vincent A. A. Jansen

Power laws are increasingly used to describe animal movement. Despite this, the use of power laws has been criticized on both empirical and theoretical grounds, and alternative models based on extensions of conventional random walk theory (Brownian motion) have been suggested. In this paper, we analyse a large volume of data of aphid walking behaviour (65 068 data points), which provides a highly resolved dataset to investigate the pattern of movement. We show that aphid movement is intermittent—with alternations of a slow movement with frequent change of direction and a fast, relatively directed movement—and that the fast movement consists of two phases—a strongly directed phase that gradually changes into an uncorrelated random walk. By measuring the mean-squared displacement and the duration of non-stop movement episodes we found that both spatial and temporal aspects of aphid movement are best described using a truncated power law approach. We suggest that the observed spatial pattern arises from the duration of non-stop movement phases rather than from correlations in turning angles. We discuss the implications of these findings for interpreting movement data, such as distinguishing between movement and non-movement, and the effect of the range of data used in the analysis on the conclusions.

Entropy ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 38
Author(s):  
Marcel Ausloos ◽  
Philippe Bronlet

We recall the historically admitted prerequisites of Economic Freedom (EF). We have examined 908 data points for the Economic Freedom of the World (EFW) index and 1884 points for the Index of Economic Freedom (IEF); the studied periods are 2000–2006 and 1997–2007, respectively, thereby following the Berlin wall collapse, and including 11 September 2001. After discussing EFW index and IEF, in order to compare the indices, one needs to study their overlap in time and space. That leaves 138 countries to be examined over a period extending from 2000 to 2006, thus 2 sets of 862 data points. The data analysis pertains to the rank-size law technique. It is examined whether the distributions obey an exponential or a power law. A correlation with the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), an admittedly major determinant of EF, follows, distinguishing regional aspects, i.e., defining 6 continents. Semi-log plots show that the EFW-rank relationship is exponential for countries of high rank (≥20); overall the log–log plots point to a behaviour close to a power law. In contrast, for the IEF, the overall ranking has an exponential behaviour; but the log–log plots point to the existence of a transitional point between two different power laws, i.e., near rank 10. Moreover, log–log plots of the EFW index relationship to country GDP are characterised by a power law, with a rather stable exponent (γ≃0.674) as a function of time. In contrast, log–log plots of the IEF relationship with the country’s gross domestic product point to a downward evolutive power law as a function of time. Markedly the two studied indices provide different aspects of EF.


Author(s):  
Stefan Thurner ◽  
Rudolf Hanel ◽  
Peter Klimekl

Scaling appears practically everywhere in science; it basically quantifies how the properties or shapes of an object change with the scale of the object. Scaling laws are always associated with power laws. The scaling object can be a function, a structure, a physical law, or a distribution function that describes the statistics of a system or a temporal process. We focus on scaling laws that appear in the statistical description of stochastic complex systems, where scaling appears in the distribution functions of observable quantities of dynamical systems or processes. The distribution functions exhibit power laws, approximate power laws, or fat-tailed distributions. Understanding their origin and how power law exponents can be related to the particular nature of a system, is one of the aims of the book.We comment on fitting power laws.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Kerches-Rogeri ◽  
Danielle Leal Ramos ◽  
Jukka Siren ◽  
Beatriz de Oliveira Teles ◽  
Rafael Souza Cruz Alves ◽  
...  

Abstract Background There is growing evidence that individuals within populations can vary in both habitat use and movement behavior, but it is still not clear how these two relate to each other. The aim of this study was to test if and how individual bats in a Stunira lilium population differ in their movement activity and preferences for landscape features in a correlated manner. Methods We collected data on movements of 27 individuals using radio telemetry. We fitted a heterogeneous-space diffusion model to the movement data in order to evaluate signals of movement variation among individuals. Results S. lilium individuals generally preferred open habitat with Solanum fruits, regularly switched between forest and open areas, and showed high site fidelity. Movement variation among individuals could be summarized in four movement syndromes: (1) average individuals, (2) forest specialists, (3) explorers which prefer Piper, and (4) open area specialists which prefer Solanum and Cecropia. Conclusions Individual preferences for landscape features plus food resource and movement activity were correlated, resulting in different movement syndromes. Individual variation in preferences for landscape elements and food resources highlight the importance of incorporating explicitly the interaction between landscape structure and individual heterogeneity in descriptions of animal movement.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 185-206 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xavier Gabaix

Many of the insights of economics seem to be qualitative, with many fewer reliable quantitative laws. However a series of power laws in economics do count as true and nontrivial quantitative laws—and they are not only established empirically, but also understood theoretically. I will start by providing several illustrations of empirical power laws having to do with patterns involving cities, firms, and the stock market. I summarize some of the theoretical explanations that have been proposed. I suggest that power laws help us explain many economic phenomena, including aggregate economic fluctuations. I hope to clarify why power laws are so special, and to demonstrate their utility. In conclusion, I list some power-law-related economic enigmas that demand further exploration. A formal definition may be useful.


2005 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-468 ◽  
Author(s):  
Timothy T. Clark ◽  
Ye Zhou

The Richtmyer-Meshkov mixing layer is initiated by the passing of a shock over an interface between fluid of differing densities. The energy deposited during the shock passage undergoes a relaxation process during which the fluctuational energy in the flow field decays and the spatial gradients of the flow field decrease in time. This late stage of Richtmyer-Meshkov mixing layers is studied from the viewpoint of self-similarity. Analogies with weakly anisotropic turbulence suggest that both the bubble-side and spike-side widths of the mixing layer should evolve as power-laws in time, with the same power-law exponent and virtual time origin for both sides. The analogy also bounds the power-law exponent between 2∕7 and 1∕2. It is then shown that the assumption of identical power-law exponents for bubbles and spikes yields fits that are in good agreement with experiment at modest density ratios.


Author(s):  
TAKAAKI OHNISHI ◽  
TAKAYUKI MIZUNO ◽  
CHIHIRO SHIMIZU ◽  
TSUTOMU WATANABE

How can we detect real estate bubbles? In this paper, we propose making use of information on the cross-sectional dispersion of real estate prices. During bubble periods, prices tend to go up considerably for some properties, but less so for others, so that price inequality across properties increases. In other words, a key characteristic of real estate bubbles is not the rapid price hike itself but a rise in price dispersion. Given this, the purpose of this paper is to examine whether developments in the dispersion in real estate prices can be used to detect bubbles in property markets as they arise, using data from Japan and the U.S. First, we show that the land price distribution in Tokyo had a power-law tail during the bubble period in the late 1980s, while it was very close to a lognormal before and after the bubble period. Second, in the U.S. data we find that the tail of the house price distribution tends to be heavier in those states which experienced a housing bubble. We also provide evidence suggesting that the power-law tail observed during bubble periods arises due to the lack of price arbitrage across regions.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mevin B. Hooten ◽  
Henry R. Scharf ◽  
Juan M. Morales

2018 ◽  
Vol 38 (11) ◽  
pp. 2023-2028
Author(s):  
Rísia L. Negreiros ◽  
José H.H. Grisi-Filho ◽  
Ricardo A. Dias ◽  
Fernando Ferreira ◽  
Valéria S.F. Homem ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT: The analysis of animal movement patterns may help identify farm premises with a potentially high risk of infectious disease introduction. Farm herd sizes and bovine movement data from 2007 in the state of Mato Grosso, Brazil, were analyzed. There are three different biomes in Mato Grosso: the Amazon, Cerrado, and Pantanal. The analysis of the animal trade between and within biomes would enable characterization of the connections between the biomes and the intensity of the internal trade within each biome. We conducted the following analyses: 1) the concentration of cattle on farm premises in the state and in each biome, 2) the number and relative frequency of cattle moved between biomes, and 3) the most frequent purposes for cattle movements. Twenty percent (20%) of the farm premises had 81.15% of the herd population. Those premises may be important not only for the spread of infectious diseases, but also for the implementation of surveillance and control strategies. Most of the cattle movement was intrastate (97.1%), and internal movements within each biome were predominant (88.6%). A high percentage of movement from the Pantanal was to the Cerrado (48.6%), the biome that received the most cattle for slaughter, fattening and reproduction (62.4%, 56.8%, and 49.1% of all movements for slaughter, fattening, and reproduction, respectively). The primary purposes for cattle trade were fattening (43.5%), slaughter (31.5%), and reproduction (22.7%). Presumably, movements for slaughter has a low risk of disease spread. In contrast, movements for fattening and reproduction purposes (66.2% of all movements) may contribute to an increased risk of the spread of infectious diseases.


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