L10 - Foraging

Question 1

What is meant by optimal foraging, & how do animals decided what, where, when & how much to eat?

Answer 1

Optimal foraging theory is a model that helps predict how an animal behaves when searching for food. Although obtaining food provides the animal with energy, searching for and capturing the food require both energy and time. The animal wants to gain the most benefit for the lowest cost during foraging, so that it can maximize its fitness. OFT helps predict the best strategy that an animal can use to achieve this goal.

Question 2

What factors prevent animals making optimal foraging decisions?

Answer 2

Time restraints, predation, competition

Question 3

What general predictions does OFT make about diet breadth?

Answer 3

Assumes that most predator-prey systems have been around long enough to reach some kind od stable outcome

Question 4

What are the limitations of OFT?

Answer 4

• Failure to confirm the models predictions could be due to violation of the assumptions, and not inappropriateness of the optimality approach itself

Question 5

Why is important that we understand how animals make foraging decisions?

Answer 5

We needs to understand foraging decisions in order to understand:

• Community structure
• Life histories and population dynamics of prey
• Habitat use/ distributions of both predator and prey
• Prey adaptations
• the impacts of humans on the animal population
• How to conserve threatened species