Optimal Foraging Theory

Changes in forage production may affect potential productivity of herbivore populations, especially in stochastic environments, which may alter the predictions set by general theories (Fulbright and Ortega-S 2006). Diets selected by herbivores are a function of the nutritional and chemical characteristics of forages, the herbivore’s nutritional requirements, and the time available to forage (Timmons et al. 2010). Optimal foraging theory predicts animals promote their fitness maximizing the net rate of energy gain through different foraging strategies (Hughes 1993). A premise in ungulate foraging theory is that as population density increases, resource competition increases, resulting in the depletion of palatable plant species (Pianka 1988).