Summary
Measurements of population growth, generation time, fecundity and respiration in laboratory culture have been made, in relation to temperature and salinity, for the nematode Diplolaimelloides bruciei Hopper, a species normally associated with decayed material of the marsh grass Spartina. The intrinsic rate of increase (r) is high: it is related to temperature between 5° and 25°C by a sigmoid function which is steepest between 10° and 15°C, and is maximum at 26‰ salinity. Generation time is related to temperature by a power function and is shortest at 26‰ salinity. The effect of temperature on generation time is consistent with other data for marine nematodes, and the steep slope of r against temperature is largely due to the marked effect of temperature on fecundity. A sex ratio of 2:1 in favour of males is maintained regardless of culture conditions or population density. Respiration increases exponentially with temperature between 5° and 25°C, with a very high Q10 (3.94), but is not affected by salinity. At 30°C respiration is no higher than at 25°C.
A high and relatively stable production efficiency (P/A) is maintained between 10 and 30°C with a maximum of 87% at 15°C; there is a stable reproductive effort (Pr/A) of about 10%. At 5°C both these ratios are zero. Data for the harpacticoid copepod Tachidius discipes, derived from the literature, show that this too has a high and stable production efficiency, which may be a characteristic of meiofaunal species in general, but in this species efficiency is relatively high at 5°C. Many features of the energy balance in D. bruciei can be related to an opportunistic mode of life.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Alongi DM, Tietjen JH (1980) Population growth and trophic interactions among free-living marine nematodes. In: Marine benthic dynamics KR Tenore and BC Coull (eds), Univ South Carolina Press pp 151–165
Crisp DJ (1970) Energy flow measurements. In: Methods for the study of marine benthos NA Holme and AD McIntyre (eds) Blackwell Oxford pp 197–279
Dixon DR (1979) A differential volumetric micro-respirometer for use with small aquatic organisms. J exp Biol 82:379–384
Fenchel T (1974) Intrinsic rate of natural increase: The relationship with body size. Oecologia (Berl) 14:317–326
Gerlach SA, Schrage M (1971) Life cycles in marine meiobenthos. Experiments at various temperatures with Monhystera disjuncta and Theristus pertenuis (Nematoda). Mar Biol 9:274–280
Heip C (1977) On the evolution of reproductive potentials in a brackish water meiobenthic community. Mikrofauna Meeresboden 61:105–112
Heip C, Smol N (1976) Influence of temperature on the reproductive potential of two brackish water harpacticoids (Crustacea: Copepoda). Mar Biol 35:327–334
Heip C, Smol N, Absillis V (1978) Influence of temperature on the reproductive potential of Oncholaimus oxyuris (Nematoda: Oncholaimidae). Mar Biol 45:255–260
Hirshfield ME, Tinkle DW (1975) Natural selection and the evolution of reproductive effort. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 72:2227–2231
Hopper BE (1970) Diplolaimelloides bruciei: n.sp. (Monhysteridae: Nematoda), prevalent in marsh grass, Spartina alterniflora Loisel. Can J Zool 48:573–575
Hopper BE, Fell JW, Cefalu RC (1973) Effect of temperature on life cycles of nematodes associated with the mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) detrital system. Mar Biol 23:293–296
Hughes RN, Roberts DJ (1980) Reproductive effort of winkles (Littorina spp.) with contrasted methods of reproduction. Oecologia (Berl) 47:130–136
Humphreys WF (1979) Production and respiration in animal populations. J anim Ecol 48:427–453
Jennings JB, Deutsch A (1975) Occurrence and possible adaptive significance of B-glucuronidase and arylamidase (“leucine aminopeptidase”) activity in two species of marine nematodes. Comp Biochem Physiol 52 A:611–614
Koop K, Newell RC, Lucas MI (1981) Biodegradation and carbon flow based on kelp debris (Ecklonia maxima) in a sandy beach microcosm. Mar Ecol Prog Ser (in press)
Laybourn J (1979) The effects of temperature on the respiration and production of the freshwater nematode Anonchus sp. Oecologia (Berl) 41:329–337
Lorenzen S (1969) Freilebende meeresnematoden aus dem Schlickwatt und den Salzwiesen der Nordseeküste. Veroff Inst meeresforsch Bremerh 11:195–238
Lorenzen S (1978) The system of the Monhysteroidea (Nematodes) — a new approach Zool Jb Syst 105:515–536
MacArthur RH, Wilson ED (1967) The theory of island biogeography. Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press
Marchant R, Nicholas WL (1974) An energy budget for the free-living nematode Pelodora (Rhabditidae). Oecologia (Berl) 16:237–252
Maynard Smith J (1978) The evolution of sex. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press
Nicholas WL, Stewart AC (1978) The calorific value of Caenorhabditis elegans (Rhabditidae). Nematologica 24:45–50
Odum WE Heald EJ (1972) Trophic analysis of an estuarine mangrove community. Bull mar Sci 22:671–738
Price R, Warwick RM (1980) The effect of temperature on the respiration rate of meiofauna. Oecologia (Berl) 44:145–148
Schiemer F, Duncan A, Klekowski RZ (1980) A bioenergetic study of a benthic nematode, Plectus palustris de Man 1880, throughout its life cycle. II. Growth, fecundity and energy budgets at different densities of bacterial food and general ecological considerations. Oecologia (Berl) 44:205–212
Slobodkin LB (1962) Energy in animal ecology. Adv ecol Res 1:69–101
Teare M, Price R (1979) Respiration of the meiobenthic harpacticoid copepod, Tachidius discipes Giesbrecht, from an estuarine mudflat. J exp mar Biol Ecol 41:1–8
Tenore KR (1977) Growth of Capitella capitata cultured on various levels of detritus derived from different sources. Limnol Oceanogr 22:936–941
Tietjen JH, Lee JJ (1972) Life cycles of marine nematodes. Influence of temperature and salinity on the development of Monhystera denticulata Timm. Oecologia (Berl) 10:167–176
Tietjen JH, Lee JJ (1977) Life histories of marine nematodes. Influence of temperature and salinity on the reproductive potential of Chromadorina germanica Butschli. Mikrofauna Meeresbod. 61:263–270
Tietjen JH, Rullman J, Greenhart A, Trompeter J (1970) Gnotobiotic culture and physiological ecology of the marine nematode Rhabditis marina Bastian. Limnol Oceanogr 15:535–543
Warwick RM (1980) Population dynamics and secondary production of benthos. In: Marine benthic dynamics KR Tenore and BC Coull (eds), Univ South Carolina Press pp 1–24
Warwick RM (1981) Survival strategies of meiofauna. In: Feeding and survival strategies of estuarine organisms NV Jones and WJ Wolff (eds), in press. Plenum
Warwick RM, Joint IR, Radford PJ (1979) Secondary production of the benthos in an estuarine environment. Proc 1st Europ Ecol Symp 429–450
Warwick RM, Price R (1975) Macrofauna production in an estuarine mud flat. J mar biol Ass UK 55:1–18
Warwick RM, Price R (1979) Ecological and metabolic studies on free-living nematodes from an estuarine mud flat. Est coastl mar Sci 9:257–271
Wieser W, Schiemer F (1977) The ecophysiology of some marine nematodes from Bermuda: seasonal aspects. J exp mar Biol Ecol 26:97–106
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Warwick, R.M. The influence of temperature and salinity on energy partitioning in the marine nematode Diplolaimelloides bruciei . Oecologia 51, 318–325 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00540900
Received:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00540900