Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Optimal Foraging00:48

Optimal Foraging

14.1K
How animals obtain and eat their food is called foraging behavior. Foraging can include searching for plants and hunting for prey and depends on the species and environment.
14.1K
Mate Choice01:20

Mate Choice

11.9K
Mate choice—the decision about whom to mate with—is a type of natural selection, since animals must reproduce to pass down their genes. Mate choice is also called intersexual selection because the behavior occurs between the sexes.
11.9K
Energy Budgets00:51

Energy Budgets

11.0K
Organisms must balance energy intake with the energy required for growth, maintenance and reproduction. These trade-offs result in a variety of survivorship and reproductive strategies, including semelparity and iteroparity. Semelparous species, like annual plants, have only one reproductive episode in their lifetimes and consequently have short lifespans. Iteroparous species, by contrast, have many reproductive events during their lifetimes but have relatively few offspring. These two...
11.0K
Conservation of Declining Populations02:07

Conservation of Declining Populations

13.5K
Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.
13.5K
Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores02:40

Epiphytes, Parasites, and Carnivores

17.0K
Plants often form mutualistic relationships with soil-dwelling fungi or bacteria to enhance their roots’ nutrient uptake ability. Root-colonizing fungi (e.g., mycorrhizae) increase a plant’s root surface area, which promotes nutrient absorption. While root-colonizing, nitrogen-fixing bacteria (e.g., rhizobia) convert atmospheric nitrogen (N2) into ammonia (NH3), making nitrogen available to plants for various biological functions. For example, nitrogen is essential for the...
17.0K
Habitat Fragmentation02:31

Habitat Fragmentation

21.7K
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
21.7K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Manifold limits on seed production by individual flowering plants.

American journal of botany·2026
Same author

Pollination efficiency and the evolution of sex allocation - diminishing returns matter.

The New phytologist·2025
Same author

The economy of pollen dispersal in flowering plants.

Proceedings. Biological sciences·2023
Same author

Beyond pollen:ovule ratios: Evolutionary consequences of pollinator dependence and pollination efficiency for pollen and ovule production in angiosperms.

American journal of botany·2023
Same author

Diverse mating consequences of the evolutionary breakdown of the sexual polymorphism heterostyly.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·2023
Same author

Habitat effects on reproductive phenotype, pollinator behavior, fecundity, and mating outcomes of a bumble bee-pollinated herb.

American journal of botany·2022
Same journal

Unveiling the microhabitat puzzle: how spatial heterogeneity shapes cave invertebrate biodiversity across scales.

Oecologia·2026
Same journal

Soil microbial drought history affects physiological response of select tree species to drought stress.

Oecologia·2026
Same journal

Unveiling the effects of interspecific competition: ecological consequences of competitive release after damming on Salvelinus curilus populations in a three-salmonid species coexistence system.

Oecologia·2026
Same journal

Orchid bee diversity responds positively to forest cover and landscape heterogeneity in the Brazilian Savanna.

Oecologia·2026
Same journal

The impact of native vertebrates on enemy release and plant functional traits during community assembly.

Oecologia·2026
Same journal

Nutrient fluctuations alter effects of litter diversity of invasive species on native communities.

Oecologia·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Mar 6, 2026

A Push-pull Protocol to Reduce Colonization of Bird Nest Boxes by Honey Bees
06:03

A Push-pull Protocol to Reduce Colonization of Bird Nest Boxes by Honey Bees

Published on: September 4, 2016

9.1K

What do foraging hummingbirds maximize?

Robert D Montgomerie1, John McA Eadie1, Lawrence D Harder2

  • 1Department of Biology, Queen's University, K7L 3N6, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.

Oecologia
|March 18, 2017
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Hummingbirds may not optimize energy intake rate but rather net energy per unit volume consumed (NEVC). This strategy, maximizing NEVC, could reduce foraging trips and territory defense costs for hummingbirds.

More Related Videos

Collection and Identification of Pollen from Honey Bee Colonies
08:11

Collection and Identification of Pollen from Honey Bee Colonies

Published on: January 19, 2021

8.3K
Obtaining Specimens with Slowed, Accelerated and Reversed Aging in the Honey Bee Model
10:58

Obtaining Specimens with Slowed, Accelerated and Reversed Aging in the Honey Bee Model

Published on: August 29, 2013

11.7K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Mar 6, 2026

A Push-pull Protocol to Reduce Colonization of Bird Nest Boxes by Honey Bees
06:03

A Push-pull Protocol to Reduce Colonization of Bird Nest Boxes by Honey Bees

Published on: September 4, 2016

9.1K
Collection and Identification of Pollen from Honey Bee Colonies
08:11

Collection and Identification of Pollen from Honey Bee Colonies

Published on: January 19, 2021

8.3K
Obtaining Specimens with Slowed, Accelerated and Reversed Aging in the Honey Bee Model
10:58

Obtaining Specimens with Slowed, Accelerated and Reversed Aging in the Honey Bee Model

Published on: August 29, 2013

11.7K

Area of Science:

  • Behavioral ecology
  • Animal foraging behavior

Background:

  • Previous studies suggested hummingbirds do not forage optimally.
  • Hainsworth and Wolf (1976) observed suboptimal food choices in hummingbirds.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the utility function hummingbirds optimize during foraging.
  • To test the hypothesis that hummingbirds maximize net energy per unit volume consumed (NEVC).

Main Methods:

  • Re-analysis of Hainsworth and Wolf's (1976) data.
  • Experimental studies with Archilochus colubris (ruby-throated hummingbirds).
  • Development of a simulation model for foraging behavior.

Main Results:

  • Hummingbirds likely maximize net energy per unit volume consumed (NEVC), not just energy intake rate.
  • NEVC maximization leads to fewer foraging trips and flower visits.
  • This strategy can reduce daily energy expenditure and territory defense costs.

Conclusions:

  • Hummingbird foraging decisions are optimized for NEVC, a strategy beneficial on longer time scales.
  • NEVC maximization has implications for hummingbird energetics, territory size, and plant-pollinator interactions.
  • Plants may adjust nectar concentration to maintain pollinator specificity under NEVC maximization.