Scientists use Age of Empires to simulate ant warfare, with the aim of helping native ant species better fight their invasive counterparts.
An emergency warning is in place for Seacombe, Loch Sport, Briagolong, Stockdale, Iguana Creek and Glenaladale in Victoria. Keep up to date withResearchers simulated warfare between native and invasive ants using Age of EmpiresHundreds of millions of dollars are spent on invasive ant eradication in Australia
Using the game, the research team built armies and battlegrounds of different sizes and shapes and watched them fight, then mapped the results. The armies created in the game behaved in a simple, predicable and quantifiable way, allowing mathematical models of warfare to emerge. Putting this into a real-world context — for ants, a simple battlefield would be a footpath or urban park, and a complex battlefield would be a bushland strip with undergrowth, small bushes, and woody debris.
As well as out-competing native ant species, invasive ants are able to prey on native animals and can cause extensive damage to agricultural systems by damaging infrastructure and ruining crops. But she said improving biosecurity measures to stop them arriving was still important, as well as investing in research to better understand ant invasions and develop new methods for detecting and controlling them.
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