| Abstract: | A solitary animal is foraging in a patch consisting of discrete prey items. We develop a stochastic model for the accumulation of gain as a function of elapsed time in the patch. The model is based on the waiting times between subsequent encounters with the prey items. The novelty of the model is in that it renders possible–via parameterization of the waiting time distributions: the incorporation of different foraging situations and patch structures into the gain process. The flexibility of the model is demonstrated with different foraging scenarios. Dependence of gain expectation and variance of the parameters of the waiting times is studied under these conditions. The model allows us to comment upon some of the basic concepts in contemporary foraging theory. |
