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Ingestion rate: An empirical model for aquatic deposit feeders and detritivores

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Summary

Published ingestion rates of total dry material (inorganic and organic) by benthic invertebrate deposit feeders and detritivores feeding at 15°C could be explained almost entirely by organic content of the ingested material and body size; the relation was consistent for 19 species from 3 phyla. Since ingestion rate of total dry material varied inversely with the organic content of the food, organic matter ingestion (C) was essentially a function of body size (W):

$$C = 0.381 \cdot W^{0.742} $$

where C is mg day-1 and W is mg dry weight. These animals may maintain a rate of intake of organic matter which is independent of the organic content of the food source by: (1) Actively adjusting their feeding rates according to some perception of food “quality”, and/or (2) Adapting their feeding rates to different environments on an evolutionary time scale.

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  1. Leon M. Cammen

    Present address: Institute of Ecology and Genetics, University of Aarhus, DK-8000, Aarhus C, Denmark

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  1. Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, 27650, Raleigh, North Carolina, USA

    Leon M. Cammen

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Cammen, L.M. Ingestion rate: An empirical model for aquatic deposit feeders and detritivores. Oecologia 44, 303–310 (1979). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00545232

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