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Diet Selection by Generalist Herbivores: A Test of the Linear Programming Model

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Behavioural Mechanisms of Food Selection

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIG,volume 20))

Abstract

In science, as in art, we often try to create simple abstractions that faithfully represent the workings of the natural world (Hofstadter 1980; Prignogine and Stengers 1984). Ecological models built this way have many virtues, not the least of which is the clarity that emerges when excessive detail is removed from our vision of reality (Starfield and Bleloch 1986). However, although simplicity is a worthwhile objective in building models, it is less important than fidelity — the processes we model must remain fundamentally loyal to processes in nature. Otherwise, our abstractions will obscure rather than clarify the behavior of ecological systems.

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  1. Research Center, Colorado Division of Wildlife, 317 West Prospect Street, Fort Collins, CO, 80526, USA

    N. Thompson Hobbs

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  1. N. Thompson Hobbs
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  1. Unit of Functional and Evolutionary Biology School of Biological Sciences, University College of North Wales, Bangor, Gwynedd, LL57 2UW, UK

    Roger N. Hughes

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Hobbs, N.T. (1990). Diet Selection by Generalist Herbivores: A Test of the Linear Programming Model. In: Hughes, R.N. (eds) Behavioural Mechanisms of Food Selection. NATO ASI Series, vol 20. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75118-9_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-75118-9_20

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