Foraging Behavior

When you visit a buffet, do you have a favorite strategy for filling up? What if instead of a long, single table, there are 3-4 stations? Only a handful of people at the buffet? Long lines? What if there were Tupperware available, so you could save food for later? How might each of these circumstances change your strategy? What if a hungry lion was in the room? How might that threat change things? As this book’s preface states “Foraging behavior has always been a central concern of ecology. Understanding what animals eat is clearly an essential component of understanding many ecological issues including energy flow, competition and adaptation.” This book is a collection of papers covering topics such as “Patch Utilization” (buffet stations instead of one big table), “Learning and Foraging,” and “Caching Behavior” (break out that Tupperware!). It will remain a touchstone for researchers studying foraging theory and behavior.