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A central concern of ecology has traditionally been foraging behavior. In its most basic form, optimal foraging theory states that organisms focus on consuming the most energy while expending the least amount of energy. more...
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The understanding of many ecological concepts such as adaptation, energyflow and competition hinges on the ability to comprehend what, and why, animals select certain food items.
History of OFT
MacArthur and Pianka (1966) developed a theoretical and empirical construct, the optimal foraging theory (OFT), which lead to a better understanding of foraging behavior. Emlen (1966) published a paper on foraging behavior at the same approximate time. Although it was different in detail, it demonstrated the need for a model where food item selection of animals could be understood as an evolutionary construct which maximizes the net energy gained per unit feeding time. Since its original conception, there have been many papers and books published mentioning OFT which have made important contributions to a number of disciplines including ecology, psychology and anthropology. Some of these additions include papers from Krebs (1972, 1978, 1985), Smith (1966, 1974), Ricklefs (1973), Schoener (1974, 1983), Pyke (1984), Krebs, Stephens & Sutherland (1983) and Stephens & Krebs (1986). The following is an outline of MacArthur and Pianka’s model.
The functional classes of predators
The OFT uses predators as the object of analysis. There are four functional classes of predators:
True predators attack large numbers of their prey throughout their life. They kill their prey immediately, or shortly after the attack. They may eat all or only part of their . True predators include tigers, lions, plankton eating whales, seed eating birds & ants and humans.;
Grazers attack large numbers of their prey throughout their lifetime and eat only a portion of their prey. They harm the prey, but rarely kill it. Grazers include cows, sheep, leeches and mosquitoes.;
Parasites, like grazers, eat only a part of the prey (host) but rarely eat the entire organism. This much more intimate relationship is typical of tapeworms, liver flukes and plant parasites such as the potato blight.;
Parasitoids are mainly typical of wasps (order Hymenoptera), and some flies (order Diptera). Eggs are laid inside the larvae of other arthropods which hatch and consume the host from the inside, killing it. This intimate predator-host relationship is typical of about 10% of all insects. Many viruses that attack single-celled organisms (such as bacteriophage) are also parasitoids, in that they reproduce inside a single host that is inevitably killed by the association.;
Basic variables of OFT
The OFT attempts to explain predator behavior since no predator eats everything available. This is typically due to habitat and size constraints, but even within habitats, predators eat only a proportion of what is available.
Read more at Wikipedia.org
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