[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-595430-105":59,"doc-detail-595430-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","despotic-ducks-field-experiment-on-mallards-resource-distribution","Despotic Ducks - Field Experiment on Mallards Resource Distribution","","A field experiment tests despotic behavior in Mallards and evaluates how ducks distribute themselves relative to food patches of differing profitability. Students present ducks with bread patches that vary in resource fraction to assess whether distribution follows ideal free expectations or becomes despotically driven by monopolization. The exercise also tests whether foragers have equal competitive ability and examines individual variation in access to resources.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":35,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/despotic-ducks-field-experiment-on-mallards-resource-distribution/595430/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/despotic-ducks-field-experiment-on-mallards-resource-distribution/595430.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Blitz","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":81},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"What is the main goal of the field experiment on Mallards?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"To test despotic behavior and determine how ducks distribute themselves relative to food resources that differ in profitability.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What conditions define the ideal free distribution theory used in the exercise?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Individuals assess patch quality, can enter or leave any patch, patch quality declines with competitor density, choose the most profitable patch while accounting for competitors, and have equal competitive ability.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How do ideal despotic distribution predictions differ from ideal free distribution?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Ideal despotic distribution allows unequal ability, so the best competitors occupy the richest patches and prevent others, leading to differences in intake across individuals.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},595430,1793109207,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":81,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":24,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},24464137899374,"https://us-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_3d24733baf745e90a7e4bdd5f77d97b2","Despotic Ducks  \nRandi A. Darling  \nDepartment of Biology, 577 Western Avenue, Westfield State College Westfield, MA 01086  \n[Email: RDarling@wsc.ma.edu](Email: RDarling@wsc.ma.edu)  \nAbstract: This field experiment is designed to test for despotic behavior in Mallards (Anasplatyrhynchos), and to examine how ducks distribute themselves relative to their resources. Students present Mallards with food patches differing in profitability in order to examine whether ducks distribute themselves ideal freely or ideal despotically. Students also test whether foragers have equal competitive ability, and look for despotic behavior among individuals. Despotic behavior is when certain individuals monopolize resources and prevent others from gaining access to those resources. This exercise is designed to allow students to be involved in every step of the scientific process.  \nKeywords: despotism, foraging, ideal free distribution, despotic distribution, ducks.  \nIntroduction  \nOften it is challenging to find field experiments that can be conducted in a reasonable amount of time, and that will provide useful data for analysis. Yet, students enjoy field experiments; and hypothesis-testing experiments enabling students to collect and analyze data provide students with valuable research experience (Darling 2000). This field exercise provides students with an opportunity to conduct a hypothesis-testing experiment, and analyze their results.  \nFretwell and Lucas ( 1970) and Fretwell (1972) proposed the ideal free distribution (IFD) theory to explain how animals should distribute themselves within an environment containing patches of varying suitability. The ideal free distribution theory applies to situations when there is competition over a resource which is patchily distributed (e.g. food or mates) and the following conditions are met:  \n1) individuals are ‘ideal’ in assessing patch quality ([i.e. th](i.e. th)ey have complete information about the availability of resources), 2) individuals are ‘free’ to enter or leave any patch of their choice (there is no resource defense), 3) patch quality decreases with increasing competitor density, 4) all individuals select the most profitable patch while compensating for existing competitors in the patch, and 5) all individuals have the same competitive ability.  \nIf these conditions are met, the IFD theory predicts that the number of individuals per patch will be proportional to the fraction of resources in that patch. The theory also predicts that the intake per individual will be equal across all patches.  \nAccording to the IFD theory, if there is a group of twenty-four ducks feeding in a pond that has pieces of bread distributed in two patches, and one patch has twice as many equally-sized pieces of bread as the other patch, you would expect that there would be eight ducks in the poor patch, and sixteen ducks in the rich patch. Furthermore, the IFD predicts that the food intake (number of pieces of bread consumed per duck) will be equal in both the rich and poor patches.  \nA number of studies have tested the ideal free distribution theory in a variety of species, and have found that animals tend to distribute themselves as predicted (Milinski 1979; Harper 1982; Power 1984; Godin and Keenleyside 1984; Gillis and Kramer 1987; Darling 1989; Baum and Kraft 1998) . However, often individuals do not get equal shares ofthe resources. Often, dominant individuals obtain more than their fair share of the resources (Milinski 1979; Harper 1982; Desrochers 1989; Baum and Kraft 1998; Cresswell 2001) . These dominant individuals may act as despots chasing subordinates away from the resources (Milinski 1979; Harper 1982; Desrochers  \n1989; Baum and Kraft 1998; Cresswell 2001) . If some individuals behave despotically, then individuals are no longer ‘free’ to enter or leave any patch of their choice.  \nIn contrast to the ideal free theory, the ideal despotic distribution assumes that individuals vary in their ability","cbCaimyhuB8FEwy7","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimyhuB8FEwy7","pdf",132387,"English","# Introduction\n# Methods\n## Experimental Design and Procedures\n### Field Location","[{\"question\":\"What is the main goal of the field experiment on Mallards?\",\"answer\":\"To test despotic behavior and determine how ducks distribute themselves relative to food resources that differ in profitability.\"},{\"question\":\"What conditions define the ideal free distribution theory used in the exercise?\",\"answer\":\"Individuals assess patch quality, can enter or leave any patch, patch quality declines with competitor density, choose the most profitable patch while accounting for competitors, and have equal competitive ability.\"},{\"question\":\"How do ideal despotic distribution predictions differ from ideal free distribution?\",\"answer\":\"Ideal despotic distribution allows unequal ability, so the best competitors occupy the richest patches and prevent others, leading to differences in intake across individuals.\"}]","Despotic Ducks - Field Experiment on Mallards Resource Distribution | PDF",1792081126,13]