Search results for "energy budget"
showing 10 items of 49 documents
Dynamic Energy Budget parameters of Brachidontes pharaonis, a lessepsian bivalve in the Mediterranean Sea.
2014
Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) models are used for describing the flow of energy through organisms. The most important and powerful aspect of DEB theory is that inter-specific differences can be captured in the same model by comparison of parameter values. However, estimation of these parameters is complicated and can often not be done with direct empirical measurements alone. Here, we present DEB parameter estimates obtained by combining both experimental and literature data for the filter feeder Brachidontes pharaonis, which is considered one among the 100 worst invasive marine species in the Mediterranean Basin. We utilize a statistical procedure based on the covariation method to obtain pa…
Predicting biological invasions in marine habitats through eco-physiological mechanistic models: a case study with the bivalveBrachidontes pharaonis
2013
Aim We used a coupled biophysical ecology (BE)-physiological mechanistic modelling approach based on the Dynamic Energy Budget theory (DEB, Dynamic energy budget theory for metabolic organisation, 2010, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge; DEB) to generate spatially explicit predictions of physiological performance (maximal size and reproductive output) for the invasive mussel, Brachidontes pharaonis. Location We examined 26 sites throughout the central Mediterranean Sea. Methods We ran models under subtidal and intertidal conditions; hourly weather and water temperature data were obtained from the Italian Buoy Network, and monthly CHL-a data were obtained from satellite imagery. Results …
Predicting patterns of stress and mortality in intertidal invertebrates: applications of biophysical ecology in a changing world
2010
Abstract Background , Questions and Methods Recent studies have emphasized that local and geographic patterns of species distributions can be set by a variety of factors related to weather and climate, including exposure to lethal environmental conditions, indirect effects on consumers and competitors, and sublethal effects of physiological stress on growth and reproduction. Predicting where, when and with what magnitude these impacts are most (and least) likely to occur is imperative if we are to effectively plan for (i.e. adapt to) the effects of climate change.We developed a series of methods for translating patterns of environmental “signals” into organismal responses in intertidal ecos…
A bioenergetics framework for integrating the effects of multiple stressors: Opening a 'black box' in climate change research
2015
Climate change is already impacting marine ecosystems across a range of scales, from individual physiology, to changes in species interactions and community structure, and ultimately to patterns in geographic distribution. Predicting how marine ecosystems will respond to environmental change is a signifi cant challenge because vulnerability to climatic and non-climatic stressors is highly variable, and depends on an organism’s functional traits, tolerance to stressors, and the environment in which it lives. We present a mechanistic approach based on biophysical and dynamic energy budget models that integrates the cumulative effects of multiple environmental stressors (temperature and food) …
Parameterisation of bivalve functional traits for mechanistic eco-physiological dynamic energy budget (DEB) models
2013
Mechanistic models such as those based on dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory are emergent ecomechanics tools to investigate the extent of fitness in organisms through changes in life history traits as explained by bioenergetic principles. The rapid growth in interest around this approach originates from the mechanistic characteristics of DEB, which are based on a number of rules dictating the use of mass and energy flow through organisms. One apparent bottleneck in DEB applications comes from the estimations of DEB parameters which are based on mathematical and statistical methods (covariation method). The parameterisation process begins with the knowledge of some functional traits of a tar…
Estimation of dynamic energy budget parameters for the Mediterranean toothcarp (Aphanius fasciatus)
2014
Organisms adopt different sets of physiological, behavioural and morphological trade-offs in order to cope with natural environmental fluctuations. This has consequential rebounds on ecological processes and population dynamics. Such aspects become crucial for sex-dimorphic species, where sex-specific growth variation could mirror different tactics both in energy acquisition and investment between maximum female and male body size with cascading effects on population demography. To date, different approaches have been used in order to understand the causes of individual growth rate changes in ectotherm indeterminate growers, most of which failed. Here, we propose the use of a mechanistic mo…
Predictive mechanistic bioenergetics to model habitat suitability of shellfish culture in coastal lakes
2014
Quantitative tools based on mechanistic modelling of functional traits able to enhance the sustainability of aquaculture and most other human activities (i.e. reducing the likelihood of detrimental impacts optimising productions), are especially important factors in the decision to site aquaculture facilities in coastal lakes, ponds and lagoons and, in the case of detrimental impact, to adopt mitigation measures. We tested the ability of mechanistic functional trait based models to predict life history traits of cultivable shellfish in shallow coastal lakes. Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) models were run to generate spatially explicit predictions of Mytilus galloprovincialis life history (LH) …
Growth and reproductive simulation of candidate shellfish species at fish cages in the Southern Mediterranean: Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) modelling …
2012
Abstract A Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) model is used to simulate growth and reproduction of the shellfish Mytilus galloprovincialis and Crassostrea gigas in an integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (IMTA) farm scenario situated in the Southern Mediterranean (the Gulf of Castellammare, Sicily). We modelled the effect of primary production enrichment at fish cages on shellfish growth and life history traits using 4 years-hourly temperature data (01 January 2006–31 December 2009) at a depth of 1 m. Outputs of the DEB simulations were: the maximum theoretical total shell length of shellfish, the potential reproductive outputs and the mean annual von Bertalanffy growth rate. There was a mean incr…
Mussels as a model system for integrative ecomechanics.
2015
Copyright © 2015 by Annual Reviews. All rights reserved. Mussels form dense aggregations that dominate temperate rocky shores, and they are key aquaculture species worldwide. Coastal environments are dynamic across a broad range of spatial and temporal scales, and their changing abiotic conditions affect mussel populations in a variety of ways, including altering their investments in structures, physiological processes, growth, and reproduction. Here, we describe four categories of ecomechanical models (biochemical, mechanical, energetic, and population) that we have developed to describe specific aspects of mussel biology, ranging from byssal attachment to energetics, population growth, an…
Thinking beyond organism energy use: a trait-based bioenergetic mechanistic approach for predictions of life history traits in marine organisms
2014
The functional trait-based bioenergetic approach is emergent in many ecological spectra, from the conservation of natural resources to mitigation and adaptation strategies in a global climate change context. Such an approach relies on being able to exploit mechanistic rules to connect environmental human-induced variability to functional traits (i.e. all those specific traits defining species in terms of their ecological roles) and use these to provide estimates of species life history traits (LH; e.g. body size, fecundity per life span, number of reproductive events). LHs are species-specific and proximate determinants of population characteristics in a certain habitat. They represent the …