BIOL 215 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Optimal Foraging Theory, Net Energy Gain, Geologic Time Scale
18 Sep 2019
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Document Summary
Organisms must continually make choices about what foods they eat. The answers to these questions vary depending on the organism and its specific habits and adaptations. Optimal foraging theory describes the general rules which animals tend to follow when making foraging decisions. Opportunistic (eat anything) or specialized (very efficient at eating one type of food: organisms will have a preference for food sources which will supply them with the greatest net energy gain. This takes into account the energy within the food source, as well as the energy spent searching for, hunting, handling, and digesting the food. The best food source will have the most food value for the least amount of energy spent to acquire the food: organisms will feed more selectively if food is abundant. If enough food is available for organisms to have a choice, they will choose higher-quality food sources: organisms will only include low-quality food sources in their diet if higher-quality food is scarce.
