Foraging Energetics and Risk
{'Code': '08090200', 'Directorate': {'Abbreviation': 'BIO', 'LongName': 'Direct For Biological Sciences'}, 'Division': {'Abbreviation': 'IOS', 'LongName': 'Division Of Integrative Organismal Systems'}}
{'SignBlockName': 'Fred Stollnitz', 'PO_EMAI': None, 'PO_PHON': None}
Maintaining or managing a natural system requires that we understand the        survival strategies of the organisms that make up the system.  We can           gauge our level of understanding by our ability to predict how survival         strategies will change as the environment changes.                                                                                                              Many animals, especially small birds and mammals, must find and consume         enough food to meet their energy expenditures each day, or face the             possibility of starving overnight (when darkness interrupts foraging).          In an environment where food rewards vary randomly, theory predicts that        the foraging behavior of such animals depends on a comparison of                expected daily energy intake with daily energy expenditures.  Given a           particular average level of food rewards, foragers should avoid food            resources with high reward variability when expected energy intake              exceeds expenditures (i.e., average benefits exceed costs).  However,           foragers should prefer high reward variability when necessary                   expenditures exceed expected energy intake (i.e., costs exceed average          benefits).                                                                                                                                                      Dr. Caraco's previous experiments supported the theory.  In that work,          daily energy expenditures were essentially fixed, and Dr. Caraco                experimentally manipulated the expected daily energy intake of foraging         birds.  But competing theories predict similar behavior in these                experiments.  Dr. Caraco's new research involves studies for which the          different theories predict different behaviors.  He will hold expected          daily energy intake constant and experimentally manipulate daily energy         expenditures.  Using walk-in coolers, he can select ambient temperatures        where a ("warm-blooded") bird's food intake exceeds, equals, and falls          short of its requirement.  He anticipates that the bird's aversion to,          or preference for, food-reward variability will still depend on a               comparison of expected energy intake with expenditure.                                                                                                          If Dr. Caraco's experimental results match his predictions, it would            indicate that his theory provides a marked increase in our level of             understanding of the behavioral strategies that promote survival in             variable environments.
{'FirstName': 'Thomas', 'LastName': 'Caraco', 'PI_MID_INIT': None, 'PI_SUFX_NAME': None, 'PI_FULL_NAME': 'Thomas Caraco', 'EmailAddress': 'tcaraco@albany.edu', 'NSF_ID': '000155573', 'StartDate': '09/01/1987', 'EndDate': None, 'RoleCode': 'Principal Investigator'}
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{'Code': '1160', 'Text': 'IBN ANIMAL BEHAVIOR'}
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