Optimal foraging and gut constraints: reconciling two schools of thought

摘要: To ecologists, factors such as a forager's encounter rate with prey and its own susceptibility to predation are dominant determinants of foraging. In contrast, digestive physiologists consider foraging be determined by like rates digestion absorption ingested food. We reconcile these views in model combining rate, external handling, internal handling food the gut. With two properties become important; energy: time (e/h) bulk (e/b). show that is only one suite limiting factors. The gut never reaches full capacity, indicating spare capacity may intrinsic structure. Regardless fullness, sufficiently high e/b will always harvested. Two isolegs state space resource abundances determine diet selectivity. These isolegs, which we call Mitchell Pulliam divide into regions 1) optimal strategy opportunism; 2) forager selective on greater e/ h partially second food; 3) e/h ignores development analysis thus heretofore disparate perspectives ecological physiological frameworks