Metabolic rate and food availability of the Antarctic amphipod <Emphasis Type="Italic">Gondogeneia antarctica</Emphasis> (Chevreux 1906): seasonal variation in allometric scaling and temperature dependence |
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Authors: | Santiago?R?Doyle Fernando?R?Momo J-Claude?Brêthes Email author" target="_blank">Gustavo?A?FerreyraEmail author |
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Institution: | 1.área de Biología y Bioinformática, Instituto de Ciencias,Universidad Nacional de General Sarmiento,Los Polvorines,Argentina;2.Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas,Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires,Argentina;3.Programa de Investigaciones en Ecología Acuática, Departamento de Ciencias Básicas,Universidad Nacional de Luján,Luján,Argentina;4.Institut des sciences de la mer de Rimouski,Université du Québec à Rimouski,Rimouski,Canada |
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Abstract: | Among the few existing works on seasonal variation in metabolic rate of polar species, most have been conducted during summer
due to logistic constraints and have been focused on species that cease feeding during winter. In this work, we present the
first extensive data set on the seasonal variation in metabolic rate of G. antarctica, an abundant amphipod that feeds throughout the year, and its relationship with body size, potential food availability and
temperature. We measured the resting metabolic rate (RMR) of groups of individuals during 6 months from late summer through
winter at 4 experimental temperatures and for a wide range of body size. RMR had a negative allometric scaling with body size
and showed a tendency to increase with temperature as expected. However, temperature and body size effects on RMR showed a
significant temporal variation, and an increase in temperature decreased scaling exponents. RMR at the mean seawater temperature
throughout the study showed a strong seasonal variation following food availability: RMR decreased from the end of summer
through winter, coinciding with a reduction in microphytobenthos stock, but recovered summer values in August, when an epontic
algae boom occurred. The seasonal factorial aerobic scope (×2.37) is lower than benthic Antarctic invertebrates that cease
feeding during winter, in agreement with what is expected based on theoretical grounds. Results suggest that seasonal variation
of RMR would allow G. antarctica to achieve a high efficiency in energy utilization, while maintaining the ability to exploit sudden changes in food supply. |
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