Finding Food

Question 1

What is optimal foraging theory

Answer 1

mathematical model that predicts an animals foraging behaviour limited by certain constraints

Question 2

3 models of optimal foraging theory

Answer 2

1. optimal prey choice - what to eat. encounter rate of most profitable prey predicts whether least profitable prey is also eaten e.g great tits and mealworms
2. marginal value theorem - where to eat. greater travel time, should stay longer. e.g great tits and branches with pots and lids with varying difficulty in opening
3. nutritional constraints - animals have to have a certain amount of nutrients to survive e.g moose. need sodium. only found in aquatic plants.

Question 3

Benefits and costs of defending territory

Answer 3

benefits - ensures sole access to food source, more efficient use of patches

costs - takes time and energy to defend, costly

Question 4

What is caching

Answer 4

storing food for times when it is scarce. has to be hidden to avoid being stolen.

Question 5

example of inter population variation in caching

Answer 5

bird found in alaska and colorado - colorado is more food rich. birds in alaska found more of their cached food and did so without making as many errors. alaskan birds brains smaller but have a larger hippocampus - to do with memory

Question 6

example of future planning in caching

Answer 6

western scrub jay - given two trays - one with nuts and one empty for days. one last day given no food but bowl of nuts and a caching tray. cached more nuts in the usually empty tray

Question 7

How does group size effect foraging

Answer 7

larger the group size, more food each individual gets. e.g bluegills - eat a fish that lives in thick vegetation. larger groups can flush them out better and so get more food

Question 8

How does public information effect foraging

Answer 8

animals can use information through social learning from others to know the condition of the environment. e.g starlings - birds paired to feed with another bird left patches earlier than when foraging alone and left even earlier when paired bird had information about the patch

Question 9

How does cooperative hunting effect foraging

Answer 9

e.g chimps looked at from two different locations. tai chimps larger the group the more successful the hunt. not the case with gombe chimps