When does the marginal value theorem predict an animal will switch between patches? If animals have an idea of the distance and profitability of food patches in their surroundings and food patches have the same profitability, they should …

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BlackTom AI · Accepted Answer

When approaching the question about the marginal value theorem (MVT), the core idea is to understand how foragers optimize intake when patches have a travel cost between them.
Option 1: 'stay in their current patch until all food has been exploited' This is a common misperception. In reality, patch residence time is not determined by the illusion of exhausting everything, but by the trade-off between diminishing returns in the current patch and the costs (time, energy) of traveling to the next patch.
Option 2: 'switch when the energy intake rate reaches the lowest point' This reverses the logic. The MVT predicts switching when the intake rate is equal to the expected average rate across the landscape, not when it hits a minimum. The lowest point is where you would have already lost foraging efficiency.
Option 3: 'stay in the patch in relation to how long it takes to travel to the next patch' This option aligns with the MVT. If patches have equal profitability and a known travel time between patches, the optimal leaving time is when the current patch’s marginal gain falls to a level that matches the average rate achievable given the travel time to the next patch. In other words, you stay until the instantaneous intake rate equals the overall average rate that includes travel time.
Option 4: 'stay longer in the patch than the travel time to the next patch' This statement suggests you always extend residence beyond the travel time, regardless of diminishing gains. The MVT does not prescribe a fixed buffer above travel time; rather, it sets a condition where leaving time depends on the comparison between current gain rate and the landscape-wide average, which includes travel costs. Therefore, staying longer than needed is not generally optimal.
Thus, the reasoning for each option emphasizes the balance between current patch returns and the cost of moving, with the correct interpretation being the relation to travel time to the next patch as described in Option 3.

2025SpringC-T-BIO331-12897 Pre-exam Quiz 2

When does the marginal value theorem predict an animal will switch between patches? If animals have an idea of the distance and profitability of food patches in their surroundings and food patches have the same profitability, they should …

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