Text 1
Optimal foraging theory posits that organisms make decisions that maximize their net energy intake per unit of time. In studies of bumblebees (*Bombus terrestris*), researchers have observed that foragers consistently select flowers with the highest sugar concentrations, even when those flowers are surrounded by less rewarding options. According to these researchers, such precise selectivity demonstrates that bees perform complex cognitive evaluations of caloric returns, calculating the energetic values of different resources to optimize their foraging paths.
Text 2
While laboratory experiments show that bumblebees prefer high-sugar rewards, these highly controlled settings fail to capture the ecological pressures of natural habitats. In the wild, bees face predation risks and complex search costs that make calculating precise caloric returns mathematically counterproductive. Instead of executing optimal foraging calculations, bees utilize simple, rapid heuristics—such as visiting any flower resembling a recently successful source. While these behavioral shortcuts may appear suboptimal in isolation, they are highly robust in dynamic environments.
Based on the passages, how would the author of Text 2 most likely characterize the claim in Text 1 that bees perform "complex cognitive evaluations of caloric returns"?
- AAs a flawed conclusion that fails to account for how bumblebees navigate artificial laboratory environments.
- BAs a promising framework that could help ecologists predict how predatory threats influence wild bee populations.
- As an inaccurate description of bee decision-making that attributes calculations to choices that are actually guided by simple rules of thumb.Cevap
- DAs a well-supported claim that accurately describes wild foraging patterns but underestimates the search costs bees encounter.