Estimating digestion time in gelatinous predators - a methodological comparison with the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita.
Estimating digestion time in gelatinous predators - a methodological comparison with the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita.
In order to quantify the trophic impact of gelatinous predators, digestion time estimates are commonly applied to counts of prey in the guts. Three primary approaches are used, the Manual-feeding, Natural-feeding and Steady-state methods; these differ in methodology and their underlying assumptions. The criteria used to define the end-point of digestion, and the resolution at which digestion progress is observed, also vary across studies. To understand the impact of such differences, we estimate digestion times of the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita fed adult females of the copepod Acartia tonsa using these various approaches. We find ~fourfold differences which can be attributed to bias towards the slowest rates of digestion by some end-point criteria, and overestimation from low observation resolution. Artificial manipulation and the degree to which swimming and feeding behaviour are natural may also influence estimates. We provide recommendations for those quantifying digestion times of Aurelia aurita medusae and gelatinous predators.
793-804
FitzGeorge-Balfour, Tania
46b896f4-8b96-4d64-a046-309141f474d0
Hirst, Andrew G.
9f94054c-d604-4a06-98d0-adfdbf139c61
Lucas, C.H.
521743e3-b250-4c6b-b084-780af697d6bf
Craggs, Jamie
cbb30237-8e3b-4499-bfbb-ed3cb6add4e3
Whelan, Emma J.
f57c3d72-5c78-4e35-9d4f-cd0af0e832a9
Mombrikotb, S.
35d37ab9-91f0-4cd2-a82a-4295cdc28042
April 2013
FitzGeorge-Balfour, Tania
46b896f4-8b96-4d64-a046-309141f474d0
Hirst, Andrew G.
9f94054c-d604-4a06-98d0-adfdbf139c61
Lucas, C.H.
521743e3-b250-4c6b-b084-780af697d6bf
Craggs, Jamie
cbb30237-8e3b-4499-bfbb-ed3cb6add4e3
Whelan, Emma J.
f57c3d72-5c78-4e35-9d4f-cd0af0e832a9
Mombrikotb, S.
35d37ab9-91f0-4cd2-a82a-4295cdc28042
FitzGeorge-Balfour, Tania, Hirst, Andrew G., Lucas, C.H., Craggs, Jamie, Whelan, Emma J. and Mombrikotb, S.
(2013)
Estimating digestion time in gelatinous predators - a methodological comparison with the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita.
Marine Biology, 160 (4), .
(doi:10.1007/s00227-012-2134-z).
Abstract
In order to quantify the trophic impact of gelatinous predators, digestion time estimates are commonly applied to counts of prey in the guts. Three primary approaches are used, the Manual-feeding, Natural-feeding and Steady-state methods; these differ in methodology and their underlying assumptions. The criteria used to define the end-point of digestion, and the resolution at which digestion progress is observed, also vary across studies. To understand the impact of such differences, we estimate digestion times of the scyphomedusa Aurelia aurita fed adult females of the copepod Acartia tonsa using these various approaches. We find ~fourfold differences which can be attributed to bias towards the slowest rates of digestion by some end-point criteria, and overestimation from low observation resolution. Artificial manipulation and the degree to which swimming and feeding behaviour are natural may also influence estimates. We provide recommendations for those quantifying digestion times of Aurelia aurita medusae and gelatinous predators.
Text
FitzGeorge-Balfour et al DT 2013.pdf
- Author's Original
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy
More information
Published date: April 2013
Organisations:
Ocean Biochemistry & Ecosystems
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 346319
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/346319
ISSN: 0025-3162
PURE UUID: 76fc09dd-73c2-48e5-b1e4-9427e917c9ac
Catalogue record
Date deposited: 17 Dec 2012 15:16
Last modified: 15 Mar 2024 02:47
Export record
Altmetrics
Contributors
Author:
Tania FitzGeorge-Balfour
Author:
Andrew G. Hirst
Author:
Jamie Craggs
Author:
Emma J. Whelan
Author:
S. Mombrikotb
Download statistics
Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.
View more statistics
