Swarm behaviour

Swarm behaviour is when large groups of animals, insects, or even artificial agents move and make decisions together in a coordinated way. Instead of following one leader, each individual follows simple rules, like matching the speed or direction of its nearest neighbors.[1] These small interactions can create complex patterns that help the whole group survive or succeed. For example, starlings form huge flocks that twist and turn in the sky, creating shapes called murmurations that confuse predators like hawks.[2] In the ocean, fish swim in schools where coordinated movement saves energy and protects them from attackers.[3] Even tiny creatures, like bacteria, show swarm behaviour when they form colonies.[4] People can also show swarm-like patterns, such as crowds moving through a busy street, traffic flowing on highways, or groups acting together online.[5]

Scientists study swarm behaviour because it shows how order can appear without a leader giving commands. This is called self-organization, where large patterns come from small, local rules, and emergent behaviour, where the group can do things no single individual could do alone.[6] Ants are a good example. They can link their bodies together to make living bridges so their colony can cross gaps.[7] Locusts show another kind of swarm behaviour. When there are too many in one place, they switch from living alone to forming massive swarms that migrate together.[8] These examples show how simple rules and environmental changes can create very different outcomes at the group level.

Swarm behaviour has also inspired technology. In robotics, scientists design swarms of small robots that work together without needing a central controller.[9] In computer science, algorithms like particle swarm optimization copy how birds flock to solve hard problems in math, engineering, and design.[10] By understanding swarm behaviour, researchers can learn how collective intelligence works in nature and apply those lessons to create better systems in technology, transportation, and decision-making.[11]

References

  1. ↑ Couzin, Iain D.; Krause, Jens; Franks, Nigel R.; Levin, Simon A. (2005). "Effective leadership and decision-making in animal groups on the move". Nature. 433 (7025): 513–516. doi:10.1038/nature03236. ISSN 1476-4687.
  2. ↑ Cavagna, Andrea; Cimarelli, Alessio; Giardina, Irene; Parisi, Giorgio; Santagati, Raffaele; Stefanini, Fabio; Viale, Massimiliano (2010-06-29). "Scale-free correlations in starling flocks". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 107 (26): 11865–11870. doi:10.1073/pnas.1005766107. PMC 2900681. PMID 20547832.
  3. ↑ Pitcher, Tony J. (1986), Pitcher, Tony J. (ed.), "Functions of Shoaling Behaviour in Teleosts", The Behaviour of Teleost Fishes, Boston, MA: Springer US, pp. 294–337, doi:10.1007/978-1-4684-8261-4_12, ISBN 978-1-4684-8261-4, retrieved 2025-08-16
  4. ↑ Kearns, Daniel B. (2010). "A field guide to bacterial swarming motility". Nature Reviews Microbiology. 8 (9): 634–644. doi:10.1038/nrmicro2405. ISSN 1740-1534. PMC 3135019. PMID 20694026.
  5. ↑ Helbing, Dirk; Farkas, Illés; Vicsek, Tamás (2000). "Simulating dynamical features of escape panic". Nature. 407 (6803): 487–490. doi:10.1038/35035023. ISSN 1476-4687.
  6. ↑ Camazine, Scott, ed. (2003). Self-organization in biological systems. Princeton studies in complexity (2. print., and 1. paperback print ed.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0-691-11624-2.
  7. ↑ Reid, Chris R.; Lutz, Matthew J.; Powell, Scott; Kao, Albert B.; Couzin, Iain D.; Garnier, Simon (2015-12-08). "Army ants dynamically adjust living bridges in response to a cost–benefit trade-off". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 112 (49): 15113–15118. doi:10.1073/pnas.1512241112. PMC 4679032. PMID 26598673.
  8. ↑ Buhl, C.; Sumpter, D. J. T.; Couzin, I. D.; Hale, J. J.; Despland, E.; Miller, E. R.; Simpson, S. J. (2006-06-02). "From Disorder to Order in Marching Locusts". Science. 312 (5778): 1402–1406. doi:10.1126/science.1125142.
  9. ↑ Brambilla, Manuele; Ferrante, Eliseo; Birattari, Mauro; Dorigo, Marco (2013-03-01). "Swarm robotics: a review from the swarm engineering perspective". Swarm Intelligence. 7 (1): 1–41. doi:10.1007/s11721-012-0075-2. ISSN 1935-3820.
  10. ↑ Kennedy, J.; Eberhart, R. (1995). "Particle swarm optimization". Proceedings of ICNN'95 - International Conference on Neural Networks. 4: 1942–1948 vol.4. doi:10.1109/ICNN.1995.488968.
  11. ↑ Şahin, Erol (2005). Şahin, Erol; Spears, William M. (eds.). "Swarm Robotics: From Sources of Inspiration to Domains of Application". Swarm Robotics. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer: 10–20. doi:10.1007/978-3-540-30552-1_2. ISBN 978-3-540-30552-1.
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