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waders and their estuarine food supplies - Vlaams Instituut voor de ...

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The finding that the intake rate predominantly <strong>de</strong>pends<br />

on si/e selection makes it difficult to interpret<br />

the field data on si/e selection. The prediction of the<br />

optimal foraging mmlol is thai the threshold si/e of acceptable<br />

prey should <strong>de</strong>pend on the intake rate. However,<br />

the threshold level itsell affects the intake rate.<br />

One way to break this circle is to examine studies<br />

where the <strong>de</strong>nsity of the most profitable prey, <strong>and</strong> si i<br />

the iniake rale, varied consi<strong>de</strong>rably. When this was<br />

PREY SIZE SELECTION AND INTAKE RATE<br />

- Scrobicularia<br />

y=l S3X-4.70<br />

p=0.009<br />

r=0.77<br />

done, the lower size threshold changed in the direction<br />

predicted by the mo<strong>de</strong>l: for example. Oystercatchers<br />

were more selective when the <strong>de</strong>nsity of large Macoma<br />

was high (Fig. 4A). Similarly, Sutherl<strong>and</strong> (1982c)<br />

found that Oystercatchers took fewer small Cockles as<br />

the abundance of ihc large ones increased. Such find<br />

ings allow the direction of causality to be established.<br />

On the assumption that these findings can be applied<br />

across all studies, we conclu<strong>de</strong> that, as predicted by the<br />

- Cerasto<strong>de</strong>rma<br />

y=0.95» a.33<br />

. p

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