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Testing for relationships between individual crab behavior and metabolic rate across ecological contexts

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Abstract

Two classes of explanations for covariation between activity level and metabolic rate among conspecifics have been proposed. First, individual-level variation in activity exhibited during the measurement of metabolic rate should covary with routine metabolic rate because movement increases respiration (a methodological relationship). Second, energetic-based hypotheses posit relationships between individual activity measured under more natural conditions and baseline measures of metabolic rate, among other behavioral, physiological, and life-history traits (functional relationships). Here, we examined these potential relationships between individual behavior and metabolic rate in the mud crab (Panopeus herbstii). Specifically, we tested for (1) an effect of crab activity in metabolic chambers (activitychamber) on routine metabolic rate (RMR), and (2) an effect of crab activity in mesocosms that mimicked field conditions (activitymesocosm) on standard metabolic rate (SMR). To test for context dependence, we assessed both activity-metabolic rate relationships in the absence and presence of predation threat from toadfish (Opsanus tau) in the form of waterborne chemical cues. Individual variation in activitymesocosm and RMR was repeatable over time. In support of a methodological relationship, individual differences in RMR were partially explained by crab activitychamber. After accounting for this methodological relationship, individual SMR was inversely related to activitymesocosm, supporting an allocation model that predicts behavior and baseline metabolic rate compete for finite energy reserves. We found no evidence of context dependence in either activity-metabolic rate relationship. Thus, our study emphasizes the importance of considering methodological artifacts in elucidating functional relationships between individual behavior and energetics.

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Acknowledgments

This study was supported by a NSF Graduate Research Fellowship (under Grant No. DGE-0929297) and a SPARC Graduate Research Fellowship (University of South Carolina) to BJT, and a GAANN Fellowship (Fellowship No. P200A090301) to CJM. Partial funding was further provided by NASA (NNX11AP77G). This is contribution number 81 in Ecological Forecasting from the University of South Carolina. We thank J.M. Harding and P.D. Kenny for technical assistance, and B.D. Griffen, K. Niitepõld, J.L. Dudycha, and anonymous reviewers for helpful suggestions that improved the manuscript.

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  1. Benjamin J. Toscano

    Present address: Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX, 77005, USA

  2. Cristián J. Monaco

    Present address: Department of Zoology and Entomology, Rhodes University, Grahamstown, 6140, South Africa

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC, 29208, USA

    Benjamin J. Toscano & Cristián J. Monaco

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  1. Benjamin J. Toscano
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  2. Cristián J. Monaco
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Correspondence to Benjamin J. Toscano.

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Communicated by T. Breithaupt

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Toscano, B.J., Monaco, C.J. Testing for relationships between individual crab behavior and metabolic rate across ecological contexts. Behav Ecol Sociobiol 69, 1343–1351 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1947-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00265-015-1947-4

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