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Foraging in groups affects giving-up densities: solo foragers quit sooner
Alexandra J R Carthey1, Peter B Banks
1School of Biological Sciences, University of Sydney, Camperdown, NSW, 2006, Australia, alexandra.carthey@mq.edu.au.
Oecologia
|March 6, 2015
Summary
Animals foraging in groups leave less food behind than solo foragers. This finding is crucial for understanding animal behavior and interpreting giving-up density studies accurately.
Area of Science:
- Behavioral Ecology
- Foraging Theory
- Animal Behavior
Background:
- The giving-up density (GUD) framework quantifies foraging decisions at depleted resource patches.
- GUD is influenced by costs like predation risk and energy expenditure.
- Group foraging may alter these costs, but its effect on GUD is unstudied.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of group foraging on giving-up densities.
- To determine if foraging in groups affects GUD compared to solitary foraging.
Main Methods:
- Utilized remote-sensing cameras to observe foraging behavior.
- Conducted three GUD experiments with two Rattus species.
- Recorded instances of both solitary and group foraging.
Main Results:
- Solo foragers consistently left higher giving-up densities than group foragers across all experiments.
- Group foraging significantly reduced the amount left at resource patches.
Conclusions:
- Group foraging influences giving-up densities, contrary to previous assumptions.
- Future GUD studies must account for group size effects to avoid misinterpretation.
- This has implications for research on perceived risk, energetic costs, and missed opportunities.
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