Citation
On the theory of central place foraging
TL;DR
Central place constraint changes optimal foraging distance
Orians and Pearson extended optimal foraging theory to situations where organisms must return to a fixed location, fundamentally changing the optimization problem. When there's a central place (nest, hive, warehouse), the trade-off between travel time and resource quality becomes critical.
This research is directly relevant to businesses with fixed infrastructure costs, showing how optimal foraging distance changes based on delivery needs rather than collection efficiency alone.
Key Findings from Orians & Pearson (1979)
- Central place constraint changes optimal foraging distance
- Load size optimization depends on travel distance
- Foraging distance should increase when demand at central place increases
- The model predicts adjustments in parental foraging during breeding season