Risky Business: On the Ecological Relevance of Risk-Sensitive Foraging

Abstract

Risk-sensitive foraging documents the response of animals to variances in their food supply. This potentially powerful theory has only recently received attention by ecologists. Scenarios incorporating risk-sensitive foraging are presented in an effort to further stimulate ecologists to persue this subject. Animals facing time constraints due to predator avoidance or other conflicting demands during foraging are likely to exhibit risk-sensitive foraging. Risk-sensitive foraging in the population context is also discussed, and conditions are outlined under which risk-sensitive foraging should exist as a density-dependent strategy.