This function returns a named vector with one component for each species giving the rate in grams/year at which that species consumes algae.
Details
Unlike algae_consumption() – the mass-specific rate used in
algae_dynamics()/algae_dynamics_cc() and in tuneUR()/tuneUR_cc(),
which deliberately ignores feeding level, because algal depletion is
modelled as driven by continuous grazing rather than by any individual
consumer's satiation state – this function reports the total,
feeding-level-adjusted rate at which each species actually ingests algae
(e.g. for diagnostic use in plotAlgaeConsumption()). For a species with
feeding level \(f_i(w)\), the rate is:
$$c_{i.A} = \rho_{i.A}\int w^{m_{alg}}\,(1-f_i(w))\,N_i(w)\,dw\;B_A$$
f_i(w) is 0 for species with satiation = FALSE (unlimited intake –
by default the carnivores) and follows the usual Holling type II response
otherwise (by default the herbivores/detritivores; see the satiation
parameter of setRefuge()). It is a whole-diet quantity computed from a
species' total encounter across all food sources (prey, algae, detritus,
plankton combined), not something computed separately per resource.