Group-foraging is common in many animal taxa and is thought to offer protection against predators and greater foraging efficiency. Such benefits may have driven evolutionary transitions from solitary to group-foraging. Greater protection against predators and greater access to resources should reduce extrinsic sources of mortality and thus select for higher longevity according to life-history t...

In this article, I review the approach taken by behavioral ecologists to the study of animal foraging behavior and explore connections with general analyses of decision making. I use the example of patch exploitation decisions in this article in order to develop several key points about the properties of naturally occurring foraging decisions. First, I argue that experimental preparations based...

Many authors assert that plants exhibit complex behaviours which are analogous to animal behaviour. However, plant ecologists rarely root these studies in a conceptual foundation as fertile as that used by animal behaviourists. Here we adapt the optimality principles that facilitated numerous advances in the study of animal foraging behaviour to create one possible framework for plant foraging ...

Fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) were exposed to mercury (1.69, 6.79, and 13. 57 microg/L HgCl(2), 10 days exposure), and afterward their foraging ability was tested in a vegetated habitat for 7 days. Among the foraging metrics used were foraging efficiency, capture speed, and the ability to learn and retain information regarding habitat characteristics. In addition to behavioral tests, mu...

In 1998 we initiated a long-term study investigating the relationships between woodpecker foraging and snag decay processes in interior ponderosa pine forest communities located in Oregon and California. We describe temporal changes in snag structure and quantify both woodpecker foraging activity and relative sapwood decay in 144 ponderosa pine snags, ranging in age from 1 to 9 years (time sinc...

Parasites, by altering the nutritional and energetic state of their hosts, can significantly alter their foraging behaviour. In honeybees, an infection with Nosema ceranae has been shown to lower the energetic state of individual bees, bringing about changes in behaviours associated with foraging. Comparing the foraging trip times, hive times in between trips, and the crop contents of uninfecte...

BACKGROUND Determining the foraging movements of pelagic seabirds is fundamental for their conservation. However, the vulnerability and elusive lifestyles of these animals have made them notoriously difficult to study. Recent developments in satellite telemetry have enabled tracking of smaller seabirds during foraging excursions. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Here, we report the first succes...

The evolution of foraging in Drosophila melanogaster (Meigen) is studied using outbred populations that had been differentiated using laboratory selection. The foraging behaviour of Drosophila larvae is measured using the foraging path length of 72-h-old larvae. The foraging path length is the distance travelled by foraging larvae over 5 min. Populations of Drosophila selected for rapid develop...

Title of Document: COMMUNICATION AND SOCIAL INFLUENCES ON FORAGING IN BATS Genevieve Spanjer Wright, Doctor of Philosophy, 2012 Directed By: Professor Gerald S. Wilkinson Department of Biology Professor Cynthia F. Moss Department of Psychology Using social information can be an efficient way to respond to changing situations or to learn skills. Other benefits of foraging in a group, such as soc...

1. The effect of competition for a limiting resource on the population dynamics of competitors is usually assumed to operate directly through starvation, yet may also affect survival indirectly through behaviourally mediated effects that affect risk of predation. Thus, competition can affect more than two trophic levels, and we aim here to provide an example of this. 2. We show that the foragin...