Abstract
To understand the life cycle of an organism, it is important to understand the physiological processes that govern growth and reproduction. In this paper, we re-analyse a life-cycle data set for the earthworm Eisenia veneta, using a process-based model. The data set comprises measurements of body size and cocoon production over 200 days, at two temperatures (15–25 °C) and two densities (five and 10 worms per container, but with the same worm:soil weight ratio). The model consists of a set of simple equations, derived from Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory. The dynamics of growth and reproduction are simultaneously described by the model, using very few parameters (five parameters for four curves). This supports the use of this model for efficient analysis of earthworm life-cycle data, and to interpret the effects of stressors. However, there was considerable inter-individual variation in the response, hampering the interpretation of the temperature and density effects. A temperature increase corresponded to an increase in the rate constants for growth and reproduction (with the same factor), without affecting the other parameters, as expected from DEB theory. Changing the earthworm density hardly affected the growth curves, but had an unexpected effect on reproduction: at higher densities, the worms start to produce cocoons at a larger body size and the maximum reproduction rate was lower. This study confirms the use of DEB as a reference model for earthworms, and using this model, we can recognise that temperature has a predictable effect on the life cycle of E. veneta. Furthermore, this analysis reveals that the effects of density are less clear and may involve a change in energy allocation that requires further study.
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