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.
E is the amount of energy (calories) from a prey item. h is the handling time, which includes capture, killing, eating and digesting. h starts once the prey has been spotted. E/h is therefore the profitability of the prey item.
Animals typically eat the most profitable prey types more than would be expected by chance since it will appear in the diet at a higher proportion than it is encountered in the environment. Predators do not, however, eat only the most profitable prey types. Other prey types may be easier to find, and E is not the only nutritional requirement. Toxins may be present in many prey types, therefore variability of diet prevents any one toxin from reaching dangerous levels. There are also other essential nutrients in all organism's diets, so it is clear that an approach focusing only on energy intake will not provide an adequate model.
Read more about this topic: Optimal Foraging Theory
Famous quotes containing the words basic, variables and/or oft:
“The basic thing nobody asks is why do people take drugs of any sort?... Why do we have these accessories to normal living to live? I mean, is there something wrong with society that’s making us so pressurized, that we cannot live without guarding ourselves against it?”
—John Lennon (1940–1980)
“Science is feasible when the variables are few and can be enumerated; when their combinations are distinct and clear. We are tending toward the condition of science and aspiring to do it. The artist works out his own formulas; the interest of science lies in the art of making science.”
—Paul Valéry (1871–1945)
“Sweet are the thoughts that savour of content,
The quiet mind is richer than a crown;
Sweet are the nights in careless slumber spent,
The poor estate scorns Fortune’s angry frown.
Such sweet content, such minds, such sleep, such bliss,
Beggars enjoy, when princes oft do miss.”
—Robert Greene (1558?–1592)