For foraging by humans, see Hunter-gatherer. For the study of indigenous use of plants, see Ethnobotany. For the material that is eaten by foraging animals, see Forage.
Grizzly bear (Ursus arctos horribilis) mother and cubs foraging in Denali National Park, Alaska.
Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce.[1] Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in response to the environment where the animal lives.
Behavioral ecologists use economic models and categories to understand foraging; many of these models are a type of optimal model. Thus foraging theory is discussed in terms of optimizing a payoff from a foraging decision. The payoff for many of these models is the amount of energy an animal receives per unit time, more specifically, the highest ratio of energetic gain to cost while foraging.[2] Foraging theory predicts that the decisions that maximize energy per unit time and thus deliver the highest payoff will be selected for and persist. Key words used to describe foraging behavior include resources, the elements necessary for survival and reproduction which have a limited supply, predator, any organism that consumes others, prey, an organism that is eaten in part or whole by another,[1] and patches, concentrations of resources.
Behavioral ecologists first tackled this topic in the 1960s and 1970s. Their goal was to quantify and formalize a set of models to test their null hypothesis that animals forage randomly. Important contributions to foraging theory have been made by:
Eric Charnov, who developed the marginal value theorem to predict the behavior of foragers using patches;
Sir John Krebs, with work on the optimal diet model in relation to tits and chickadees;
John Goss-Custard, who first tested the optimal diet model against behavior in the field, using redshank, and then proceeded to an extensive study of foraging in the common pied oystercatcher.
^ abDanchin, E.; Giraldeau, L. & Cezilly, F. (2008). Behavioural Ecology. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-920629-2.[page needed]
^Cite error: The named reference Hughes1989 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavior of animals in response to the...
Forage is a plant material (mainly plant leaves and stems) eaten by grazing livestock. Historically, the term forage has meant only plants eaten by the...
forage or purchase from foragers in order to add these foods to restaurant menus. While most foragers engage in the activity as a pastime, foraging can...
Information foraging is a theory that applies the ideas from optimal foraging theory to understand how human users search for information. The theory...
A forage harvester – also known as a silage harvester, forager or chopper – is a farm implement that harvests forage plants to make silage. Silage is grass...
that "the army would have been gradually destroyed through this foraging". Some forage was provided from New York, but it was never sufficient for the...
from the foraging behaviours of other animal groups. According to the foraging habitat, birds may be grouped into foraging guilds. Foraging includes a...
Central place foraging (CPF) theory is an evolutionary ecology model for analyzing how an organism can maximize foraging rates while traveling through...
plants cut and carried to them), rather than that which they forage for themselves (called forage). Fodder includes hay, straw, silage, compressed and pelleted...
concern such topics as the indigenous roots of foraging in America, the history of American foraging laws, and sustainable ways for her viewers to include...
economically advantageous foraging pattern will be selected for in a species through natural selection. When using OFT to model foraging behavior, organisms...
Edge computing is a distributed computing model that brings computation and data storage closer to the sources of data. More broadly, it refers to any...
individual learning. New pollen foragers tend to return lighter from about the first 10 foraging trips, allowing foraging efficiency to increase, until...
Mushroom hunting, mushrooming, mushroom picking, mushroom foraging, and similar terms describe the activity of gathering mushrooms in the wild. This is...
(1977). "Foraging Behavior of the White Ibis". The Wilson Bulletin. 89 (2): 342–345. JSTOR 4160923. Courser, W. D.; Dinsmore, J. J. (1975). "Foraging Associates...
during foraging. Much research has been done on the foraging behavior of the red harvester ant. Three types of workers are most involved in the foraging process:...
Harvester ants foraging in hot, dry conditions lose water, but obtain water from metabolizing fats in the seeds they eat. Positive feedback on foraging activity...
2007-06-21. Institute for the Study of Edible Wild Plants and Other Foragables. Wild Foraging Definition Katsiaficas, George (June 1, 2006). The Subversion...
The Feed and Forage Act of 1861 is legislation passed by the United States Congress that allows the Military Departments to incur obligations in excess...
allowing them to regulate nutrient intake. Optimal foraging theory is a model that explains foraging behavior as a cost–benefit analysis in which an animal...
Lenfest Ocean Program website. Marine life portal Oceans portal Foraging Optimal foraging theory The Blue Planet Kils, U (1992) The ecoSCOPE and dynIMAGE:...
foraging trails is strongly affected by the health of the colony and the availability of food. Food deprivation induces a higher amount of foraging ant...