Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-p2v8j Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2024-06-02T03:54:37.986Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

3 - Foraging Strategies

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 March 2024

Jeremy Koster
Affiliation:
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig
Brooke Scelza
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
Mary K. Shenk
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
Get access

Summary

An important adaptive problem for humans and other animals is the acquisition of food. To study foraging strategies, human behavioral ecologists use a number of optimization models, which generally assume that individuals aim to maximize the rate at which they acquire resources. For instance, the prey choice model and its variants highlight the resources that should either be pursued or ignored when they are encountered. The patch choice model and the marginal value theorem, respectively, examine which patches should be exploited by foragers and when they should switch from one patch to another. Foraging strategies are impacted by social considerations, too. The ideal free distribution considers the habitats that foragers should choose while considering the suitability of possible habitats as a function of the number of current occupants. Diverse case studies from ethnographic and archaeological research are discussed. The chapter also highlights opportunities for future studies, including research on the social dimensions of foraging strategies and the ways in which humans can modify environments to enhance foraging returns. There is also a clear need for additional research on the causes and consequences of individual-level variation in foraging ability.

Type
Chapter
Information
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×