Fig. 1.
Search efficiency gain Δη (%) comparing search processes with and without exponential-intermittence in 2D patchy landscapes (A and B) and with and without Lévy intermittence in 2D (C and D) and 3D (E and F) patchy landscapes. Results are shown for λP = 1,000 (low patch densities) (A, C, and E) and λP = 100 (high patch densities) (B, D, and F) for different scanning behaviors: ρ = 0.7 (●) and ρ = 0.9 (○), and for different intermittent reorientation behaviors: exponential-intermittent (0.01 ≤ β ≤ 1]) and Lévy intermittent (1 < μ ≤ 3). In the former case, the β values cover characteristic time-scales of intermittence (i.e., τ = βλP) that go from 1% to 100% of the λP value [i.e., the average distance, or travel time, between patches (see SI Text)]. Dashed lines indicate zero search efficiency gain (Δη = 0%).