Pruning to Increase Taylor Dispersion in Physarum polycephalum Networks
  How do the topology and geometry of a tubular network affect the spread of particles within fluid flows? We investigate patterns of effective dispersion in the hierarchical, biological transport network formed by Physarum polycephalum. We demonstrate that a change in topology - pruning in the foraging state - causes a large increase in effective dispersion throughout the network. By comparison, changes in the hierarchy of tube radii result in smaller and more localized differences. Pruned networks capitalize on Taylor dispersion to increase the dispersion capability. 
Sophie Marbach, Karen Alim, Natalie Andrew, Anne Pringle, and Michael   P. Brenner
physics.bio-ph cond-mat.soft q-bio.TO