Data from: Network analyses support the role of prey preferences in shaping resource use patterns within five animal populations

Individual variation is an inherent aspect of animal populations and understanding the mechanisms shaping resource use patterns within populations is crucial to comprehend how individuals partition resources. Theory predicts that differences in prey preferences among consumers and/or differences in the likelihood of adding new resources to their diets are key mechanisms underlying intrapopulation variation in resource use. We developed network models based on optimal diet theory that simulate how individuals consume resources under varying scenarios of individual variation in prey preferences and in the willingness of consuming alternate resources. We then investigated how the structure of individual–resource networks generated under each model compared to the structure of observed networks representing five classical examples of individual diet variation. Our results support the notion that, for the studied populations, individual variation in prey preferences is the major factor explaining patterns in individual–resource networks. In contrast, variation in the willingness of adding prey does not seem to play an important role in shaping patterns of resource use. Individual differences in prey preferences in the studied populations may be generated by complex behavioral rules related to cognitive constraints and experience. Our approach provides a pathway for mapping foraging models into network patterns, which may allow determining the possible mechanisms leading to variation in resource use within populations.个体差异是动物种群的固有属性，阐明种群内部资源利用模式的塑造机制，对于理解个体间的资源分配逻辑至关重要。理论预测，取食者之间的猎物偏好差异，以及/或在食谱中添加新资源的可能性差异，是种群内资源利用变异的核心驱动机制。我们基于最优食谱理论（optimal diet theory）构建了网络模型，以模拟在猎物偏好与取食替代资源意愿存在个体差异的不同情境下，个体的资源取食模式。随后，我们对比了各模型生成的个体-资源网络结构，与代表五种典型个体食性变异案例的观测网络结构之间的差异。本研究结果表明，针对所分析的种群而言，猎物偏好的个体差异是解释个体-资源网络结构模式的核心因素。与之相反，拓展食谱的意愿变异似乎并未对资源利用模式的塑造起到显著作用。所分析种群中猎物偏好的个体差异，可能源于与认知约束和取食经验相关的复杂行为规则。本研究方法为将觅食模型转化为网络模式提供了可行路径，这或将有助于阐明种群内资源利用变异的潜在驱动机制。