Time resources and laziness in animals.

Oecologia

Department of Biological Sciences, Stanford University, 94305, Stanford, California, USA.

Published: May 1981

Investigations of time budgets reveal that for many animals a surprising proportion of their active time is spent in inactivity. The question of why these beasts are often idle is investigated by examining their foraging behavior in a model which does not utilize optimization criteria. If an organism's goal is to stay alive, one satisfactory strategy is a thermostat feeding process whereby the animal initiates foraging when it perceives hunger and ceases when it becomes satiated. The simple model is formulated as a Markov chain and analyzed for three cases. Results from each case predict that for many combinations of activity levels and resource spectra, the time spent looking for food is smaller than the time spent not foraging, and laziness may result. Simple decision rules as well as optimization schemes are therefore useful for studying some types of foraging behavior.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00349198DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

time spent
12
foraging behavior
8
time
5
time resources
4
resources laziness
4
laziness animals
4
animals investigations
4
investigations time
4
time budgets
4
budgets reveal
4

Similar Publications

Brain drain in Emergency Medicine in Lebanon, building locally and exporting globally.

BMC Med Educ

January 2025

Department of Emergency Medicine, American University of Beirut, P.O.Box 11-0236, Riad El-Solh, Beirut, 1107 2020, Lebanon.

Objective: Despite the growth of Emergency Medicine (EM) globally, shortages of EM-trained physicians persist in many countries, disproportionately affecting lower middle/low-income countries (LMIC/LIC). This study examines the career paths of graduates of an Emergency Medicine residency-training program established in Lebanon with the aim of building local capacity in EM.

Design And Patients: This descriptive study utilizes secondary data sourced from an alumni database that includes nine cohorts of graduates from an Emergency Medicine residency program at the American University of Beirut Medical Center in Lebanon.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

With the global surge in lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), recycling spent LIBs has become an essential and urgent research area. In the context of global efforts to promote sustainable development, and achieve energy conservation and emission reduction, advancing recycling technologies that efficiently recover critical metals like Ni, Co, Mn, and Li is crucial. Herein, a novel and environmentally friendly simplified process for selectively extracting critical metals from the mixed electrode materials of spent LIBs is proposed for the first time.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Prompts offer a promising strategy to promote client engagement in internet-delivered cognitive behavioral therapy (ICBT). However, if the prompts do not meet the needs of clients, they can potentially be more obtrusive rather than helpful.

Objective: The aim of this study was to test if prompts tailored based on timing and frequency, aligned with preintervention goal setting, can increase usage and the efficacy of a therapist-supported ICBT stress recovery intervention for health care workers.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

This study was undertaken to assess the antioxidant and neuropharmacological potentials of the methanol leaf extract of Acanthus ebracteatus (MAEL) through experimental and in silico methods. The phytochemical screening (PS) and GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) identified 28 phytochemicals with different classes in nature in MAEL. The MAEL revealed better antioxidant activity through various in vitro antioxidant assays.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Oxytetracycline and Florfenicol Association Affects Zebrafish Larvae Behavioral Repertoire.

Arch Environ Contam Toxicol

January 2025

Programa de Pós-Graduação em Biologia Celular e Molecular, Escola de Ciências da Saúde e da Vida, Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil.

Oxytetracycline (OTC) and Florfenicol (FF) are prevalent antibiotics choices in both fish production and livestock farming. A comprehensive understanding of their effects is paramount for effective control of their use and for elucidating their physiological and pharmacological implications. In our investigation, zebrafish larvae were subjected to varying concentrations of OTC, FF or a combination of OTC + FF during 96 h.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!