Data from: A breath of fresh air in the foraging theory: the importance of wind for food size selection in a central place forager

Empirical data about food size carried by central place foragers does not
often fit with the optimum predicted by classical foraging theory.
Traditionally, biotic constraints such as predation risk and competition
have been proposed to explain this inconsistency, leaving aside the
possible role of abiotic factors. Here we documented how wind affects the
load size of a central-place forager (leaf-cutting ants) through a
mathematical model including the whole foraging process. The model showed
that as wind speed at ground level increased from 0 to 2 km/h, load size
decreased from 91 to 30 mm2, a prediction that agreed with empirical data
from windy zones, highlighting the relevance of considering abiotic
factors to predict foraging behavior. Furthermore, wind reduced the range
of load sizes that workers should select to maintain a similar rate of
food intake and decreased the foraging rate by ~70% when wind speed
increased 1 km/h. These results suggest that wind could negatively reduce
the fitness of colonies and limit the geographic distribution of
leaf-cutting ants. The developed model offers a complementary explanation
why load size in central place foragers may not fit theoretical
predictions and could serve as basis to study the effects of other abiotic
factors that influence foraging.