Optimal Foraging and Limitations of Digestive Rate
The Digestive rate model (DRM) of optimal foraging makes the same basic assumption as do other models, i.e. animals select food in order to maximize their rate of energy intake. Therefore, it belongs to Optimal foraging theory. However, it makes the point that some animals should select food on the basis of its 'digestive quality' (net energy content/digestive turnover time) rather than its 'profitability' (net energy content/handling time). Food or prey can come at the expense of indigestible bulk that takes up capacity in the digestive tract. The DRM states that animals under some circumstances will maximize their digestive rate instead of their food ingestion rate or foraging behaviour as predicted by the Contingency Model, the basic and most commonly used model of OFT. The DRM is a useful alternative to the foraging models that maximize ingestion rate only, as it explains some behaviour currently looked on as deviation from OFT.
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