Movements in the olfactory landscape
Movements in the olfactory landscape
This chapter examines the nature of odour dispersal, the evolution of olfactory-guided movement, and olfactory search strategies in diverse animal groups. Although different taxonomic groups have evolved different sensory organs for odour detection and different olfactory receptor repertoire, the resulting paths of navigation to attractive odours are strikingly similar. Such patterns are independent of type of movement. One key feature of olfactory search is to use the wind (anemotaxis) or water flow (rheotaxis). How animals track odour plumes and trails has mainly been derived from experiments over short spatial scales in laboratory settings. Newly developed techniques for tracking animal movements over landscape scales such as harmonic radar and GPS monitoring will allow novel insights into olfactory search, as well as for the potential implementations of bio-inspired search algorithms derived from studies on olfactory-guided movements into underwater vehicles for various applications. Similar systems may become available in terrestrial environments.
Keywords: odour tracking, odour plume, olfactory receptor, anemotaxis, rheotaxis, harmonic radar, GPS monitoring
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