On Optimal Use of a Patchy Environment

TLDR

A more productive environment is expected to lead to a more restricted diet with fewer species eaten. The authors present a graphical method that specifies a predator’s optimal diet by comparing the net energy gained from prey capture to the energy spent searching. The method predicts that diet specialization changes with prey diversity, that patchiness negates this effect for predators spending most time searching, and that larger patches are exploited more specialized than smaller ones.

Abstract

A graphical method is discussed which allows a specification of the optimal diet of a predator in terms of the net amount of energy gained from a capture of prey as compared to the energy expended in searching for the prey. The method allows several predictions about changes in the degree of specialization of the diet as the numbers of different prey organisms change. For example, a more productive environment should lead to more restricted diet in numbers of different species eaten. In a patchy environment, however, this will not apply to predators that spend most of their time searching. Moreover, larger patches are used in a more specialized way than smaller patches.