Browsing by Author "Simspon, Paul"

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    The effects of structured variation in nectar standing crop on currency choice and optimal foraging by bumble bees
    (2014-01-08) Simspon, Paul; Harder, Lawrence
    Foragers commonly exploit patchy habitats in which resource abundance can vary within and among patches. Studies measuring resource variation tend to consider only single sources of variation, so the extent of structured resource variation and how it impacts foraging animals are unclear. A survey of nectar abundance in five plant species revealed the spectrum from only within- to solely among-plant variation. Captive bumble bees (Bombus impatiens) confronted with an increasing component of among-inflorescence nectar variation departed inflorescences in manners that diverged increasingly from expectations of the Marginal Value Theorem (MVT). Bees apparently assess inflorescence quality on a per-patch basis, changing their exploitation behavior in response to poor or rewarding inflorescences as expected from a speed-accuracy trade-off, rather than maximizing their overall average return rate. This quantitative test of the MVT demonstrates the need to incorporate responses to variation within patches in models of forager behavior.