... associated with searching for food.ÝÝ The optimal foraging theory assumes that animals feed in a way that maximizes their net rate of energy intake per unit time (Pyke et al. 1977).Ý An animal may either maximize its daily energy intake (energy maximizer) or minimize the time spent feeding (time minimizer) in order to meet minimum requirements.Ý Herbivores commonly behave as energy maximizers (Belovsky 1986) and accomplish this maximizing behavior by choosing food that is of high quality and has low-search and low-handling time (Pyke et al. 1977).Ý The central place theory is used to describe animals that collect food and store it in a fixed location in their home range, the central place (Jenkins 1980).Ý The factors associated with the optimal foraging theory also apply to the central place theory.Ý The central place theory predicts that retrieval costs increase linearly with distance of the resource from the central place (Rockwood ...

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