The neutral-background-matrix assumption fails where the matrix itself holds resources.

Evidence

Optimal patch foraging theory generally presumes that the patches are discrete and arrayed against a neutral background matrix, and that they differ from one another only quantitatively, not qualitatively. This may be so for some organisms in some environments (e.g., cactus feeders in a desert), but often the matrix itself contains resources, and foraging individuals are therefore able to forage while traveling between patches: the “matrix,” in a sense, becomes a patch itself. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 1181

Categorization

• XREF: Pairs with ch21’s note that the patch mosaic theory assumes edges/matrix; also useful for the landscape-reading course’s caution against reading only discrete ‘features’. — connects to: Disturbance patches in a perennial matrix differ functionally from total removal. — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 561

Broader Connections

• Disturbance patches in a perennial matrix differ functionally from total removal. #complicates (0.78) — S. T. A. Pickett and P. S. White, eds., The Ecology of Natural Disturbance and…, 561