The optimal diet model is dependent on:
The optimal diet model depends centrally on prey energy yield and handling time because their ratio, E/h, ranks prey profitability. Handling includes capture, subdual, ingestion, and processing after encounter. High-energy prey with short handling are ranked above low-yield or difficult prey. Search time then determines diet breadth: when top-ranked prey are encountered frequently, rejecting poorer items is worthwhile; when they become scarce, the forager may include lower-ranked prey to avoid long unproductive searches. Thus, prey abundance matters indirectly through encounter rate, but handl
Ref: Ecology: Concepts and Applications, Molles, 9th Ed., Ch. 14