Senft et al. have found that many of the problems of applying traditional optimal foraging theory to large herbivores can be solved by blending elements of foraging theory, landscape ecology, and hierarchy theory. Their approach is different from traditional optimal foraging theory in that they are more concerned with behavioral processes and patterns than with theoretical or evolutionary outcomes. The authors' conceptual framework spans patch to regional levels of ecological resolution. They invoke hierarchy theory to integrate foraging decisions at different spatio-temporal scales and present alternative hypotheses for foraging decision-making rules. They conclude that critical experimentation is necessary to select among the possibilities.
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