Abstract
The metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) posits that metabolic rate controls ecological processes. Metabolic rate is a function of organism body mass. We tested a fundamental assumption of MTE, whether resource uptake scales to metabolism, using a temperature-adjusted model of ingestion for aquatic deposit feeders, and deposit-feeding rates of abyssal invertebrates estimated from time-lapse photos. Ingestion was significantly related to body mass, with a mass-scaling coefficient near the MTE-predicted value. Our results suggest that after temperature correction, all marine invertebrates might be summarized into a single mass-scaled ingestion rate, and provide insight into the potential mechanism for this assumption. This photograph illustrates the article “Abyssal deposit-feeding rates consistent with the metabolic theory of ecology” by Jennifer M. Durden, Brian J. Bett, Christine L. Huffard, Henry A. Ruhl, and Kenneth L. Smith published in Ecology. https://doi.org/10.1002/ecy.2564
Highlights
The Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE; Brown et al 2004) posits that metabolic rate controls ecological processes, from the individual- to the ecosystem-scale (Schramski et al 2015), and provides a potentially valuable numerical framework for the interpretation and modeling of ecological processes
We test whether resource uptake scales to metabolism by examining whether ingestion by abyssal deposit feeders conforms to MTE-predicted feeding rates
Deposit-feeding rates, ingestion, and fresh wet masses were estimated for 39 individuals at PAP and 69 individuals at Sta
Summary
The Metabolic Theory of Ecology (MTE; Brown et al 2004) posits that metabolic rate controls ecological processes, from the individual- to the ecosystem-scale (Schramski et al 2015), and provides a potentially valuable numerical framework for the interpretation and modeling of ecological processes. A key element in the link between individuals and the ecosystem is the relative distribution of resource use across body mass classes (White et al 2007). These concepts, and their underlying causes, remain contentious (Isaac et al 2013). Symmetric case of this “energetic equivalence,” resource acquisition and use are approximately.
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