How Humans and Foraging

Being that many humans are lazy instead of foraging and gathering their our own food we simply hop into our car and drive to the super market. We then proceed to walk around a store and choose from a vast variety of foods. We have no risk of being attacked and the only weather we have to endure is while we were running to our car. Now, imagine if people in our day and age had to forage like many animals have to do. We would have the same risks such as predators that would attack us for our pop tarts and steal our food out of our basket and those who can't keep up or protect there food and get to check out don't get any food and leave empty handed. now obviously this whole scene seems pretty ridiculous but super markets and food stores are a luxury that many people take for granted. Many animals have to forage to find there food. Foraging is extremely important for these animals because they don't have the luxury of super markets. They have to risk their lives every time they go out to find food. This skill is essential for the organisms survival. I had the opportunity to attempt to simulate the challenges of foraging in my ecology lab at Plattsburgh University. We used polka chip with calorie amounts on them and we had a foam ball to simulate a predator and we had to place socks on our hands to simulate bad weather. At the beginning of the experiment many of us couldn't collect very many calories to survive but by the end we had learned and adapted to collect the the chips with the most calories and we were able to survive. I personally believe foraging is all about adaption and awareness of your surroundings. Here is a little more background on foraging. An organism’s ability to forage successfully is extremely important to the well being of the organism. The theory of foraging is when the predator gains more from its prey than it loses from catching it (Hernandez et al. 2001).  High-ranking items are items foraged that will prove to have a higher energy gain over the cost of searching and obtaining the prey (Hernandez et al. 2001).  Prey items are ranked according to their cost, benefit ratio (Hernandez et al. 2001).  Many organisms have different methods and ways of foraging. Some only forage at night under the cover of foliage; where as some organisms wont come out to forage at all when they know a predator is present with in the space they are foraging. Foraging optimally would imply that the organism would have a preference for various foods. There are two different types of forgers there are specialist, which specialize in searching and obtaining their prey, and generalist who can search for and obtain many different types of prey and use it as a source of energy. Some animals may have difficulties foraging in the winter due to the fact that mostly everything is frozen so seeds, plants, insects, and even small organisms aren’t as abundant as they would be in the other seasons. Predators will become more abundant and active in the warmer seasons due to the increased activity of its prey over the winter season, thus creating more completion for food and resources.

Figure 1. Mean calories per forager from each trail, collected by ecology class in Sibley gym, spring semester 2013.

Figure 2. Mean Calories per chip for each trial, collected by ecology class in Sibley gym, spring semester 2013. 

Works Cited

Lewis, Allen R. 1982 “Selection of Nuts by Gray Squirrels and Optimal Foraging Theory.” Selection of Nuts by Gray Squirrels and Optimal Foraging Theory, American Midland Naturalist

Robinson, Scott K. and Holmes, Richard T. 1982 “Foraging Behavior of Forest Birds: The Relationships Among Search Tactics, Diet, and Habitat.” Foraging Behavior of Forest Birds: The Relationships Among Search Tactics, Diet, and Habitat, Ecological Society of America

Herna ́ndez, Lucina Et al. 2000 “Coyote diets in the Chihuahuan Desert, more evidence for optimal foraging.” Coyote diets in the Chihuahuan Desert, more evidence for optimal foraging, UNM Department Biology, Albuquerque