부산대학교 도서관

The different responses of plants to drought conditions are examined in the Western Desert of Australia to demonstrate the necessity of considering plant food availability prior to optimal foraging applications involving human hunter-gatherers. The correspondence of Ngatatjara dietary breadth changes to optimal foraging predictions is explained as an adaptive response to the unpredictable Western Desert reinfall. By minimizing the time allocated to food procurement, energy-efficient foraging reduces the risk involved in the exploitation of scattered, ephemeral water sources. Futher applications of optimal foraging models to hunter-gatherers is one line of promising investigation to address behavioral variability among human foragers.