CEOE Biological Sciences Practice Exam

Models of optimal foraging behavior predict that individual foragers will increase the distance traveled and time spent foraging when the:

Population density of the foraging species is high

Foraging decisions balance energy gained from food against the costs of searching, handling, and moving between patches, plus risks. When many individuals are foraging in the same area, competition depletes a given patch more quickly and reduces its profitability per unit time. To keep net energy intake high, a forager will then need to spend more time searching and travel farther to locate more productive patches, increasing both the distance covered and the overall time spent foraging. If resources were abundant, or if predation risk were very high or resource diversity altered the choice without changing patch profitability, you wouldn’t expect the same increase in travel and foraging time. Hence, higher density of foragers leads to longer searches and greater travel as competition reduces patch profitability.

The diversity of the food resources utilized is high

The chance of falling victim to a predator while foraging is high

The abundance of the primary food resource is high