Seasonal and artificially elevated temperatures influence bioenergetic allocation patterns in the common pond snail, Physella virgata

Allocation of organic carbon (OC) to primary energetic pathways was estimated under seasonal and artificially elevated ambient temperatures for a field population of a freshwater pulmonate snail, Physella virgata. Allocation to respiration increased with temperature. Snails allocated most assimilated OC to reproduction within their natural temperature range (15 degrees -35 degrees C), where assimilation efficiencies remained relatively stable at 25%-35%. However, in artificially heated waters exceeding 35 degrees C, declining assimilation rates and increasing respiratory demands inhibited allocation to reproduction and growth. At the species' 40 degrees C upper thermal limit, assimilation efficiencies fell below 10%, while average consumption levels more than doubled relative to snails unaffected by the thermal effluent. Ambient temperature substantially influenced OC allocation over P. virgata's natural temperature range and negatively affected growth and reproduction at temperatures approaching or exceeding maximum natural levels.