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A metabolic theory of ecology applied to temperature and mass dependence of N and P excretion by common carp

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Abstract

Our study used a metabolic theory of ecology (MTE) to explore scaling of metabolic rates by body size and temperature, and to predict nutrient excretion by common carp (Cyprinus carpio). At high biomasses, common carp have negative impacts on water quality, and one mechanism is excretion of the nutrients N and P. We measured whole-body and mass-specific excretion rates during summer and winter for fish of different sizes (wet mass range 28–1,196 g) to produce an allometric scaling model capable of predicting excretion at different temperatures. We found positive relationships between both dissolved and total nutrient concentrations and fish wet mass in summer and winter, with greater excretion rates in summer (mean water temperature 24.2°C) than in winter (mean water temperature 9.2°C). Mass-specific excretion rates decreased with increasing fish size, consistent with the MTE, and the temperature-adjusted model explained more variation for N excretion than for P. The proportion of dissolved nutrients (NH4 and PO4) to total nutrients increased with increasing fish size. The significance of these models is that they can be used to predict population-based nutrient excretion by common carp when thermal history, fish density and size distribution in a water body are known.

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Acknowledgments

We thank the following people from the Department of Biological Sciences, University of Waikato: Jonathan Banks, Dudley Bell, Jeroen Brijs, Brennan Mahoney, Warrick Powrie, Ray Tana and Grant Tempero for field assistance, and David Hamilton for editorial advice. Lyn Hunt (Department of Statistics, University of Waikato) provided mathematical advice. We especially thank Louise Stewart for conducting nutrient analyses. This work was funded by a New Zealand Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment contract: UOWX0505. All aspects of the study were approved by the University of Waikato Animal Ethics Committee (Protocol 769).

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  1. Department of Biological Sciences, Faculty of Science and Engineering, Environmental Research Institute, University of Waikato, Private Bag 3105, Hamilton, New Zealand

    Dai K. J. Morgan & Brendan J. Hicks

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  1. Dai K. J. Morgan
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  2. Brendan J. Hicks
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Correspondence to Brendan J. Hicks.

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Handling editor: M. Power

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Appendix 1

Raw data including tank temperature, fish wet mass, and per capita and mass-dependent carp excretion rates for summer and winter experiments. − indicates that data are not available at that point (see Methods). (DOCX 20 kb)

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Morgan, D.K.J., Hicks, B.J. A metabolic theory of ecology applied to temperature and mass dependence of N and P excretion by common carp. Hydrobiologia 705, 135–145 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10750-012-1388-2

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