7.2 Defintion

Foraging

Finding, selecting, catching, and consuming food; includes herbivory and carnivory

Currency

the units in which fitness, or surrogates for fitness (e.g. calories), is measured

Patch

an area with relatively high density of prey

Optimal foraging theory

individual animals forage in order to maximize their fitness

models

mathematical ( or graphical) formulation of hypotheses

Optimal foraging models

precit optimal foraging behavior given a specific currency (e.g., energy) and constraints (e.g.,predation risk)

frequency-dependent selection

• fitness of one behavior is higher as it becomes rarer

• the less of you there are, the greater your fitness

conditional strategy

• individual’s ability to alter its behvaior in light of conditions it confronts

• change behavior depending on what is happening in the environement

integrative approach to optimality

• applies to how behaviors evolve in a population given context

Hawk

aggressive, fight over resource until someone wins

Dove

initially aggressive, but retreats to safety or shares resources if met with aggression

Holders

males living in groups with multiple males

• often utilize a hawk strategy

Solitaries

males that are solitary

• often utilize dove strategy

Assumption

fitness maximized when they get the maximum caloric benefit, relative to the energy spent foraging

• if so, behavior will increase in freuency within the population via natural selection