Chemical tracers of bioenergetics and energy acquisition in aquatic ectotherms

水生变温动物生物能学和能量获取的化学示踪剂

• 批准号: 261824-2008
• 负责人: Drouillard, Kenneth
• 金额: $ 1.09万
• 依托单位: University of Windsor
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2009
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2009-01-01 至 2010-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=426825
• 关键词: Chemical; tracers; bioenergetics; energy; acquisition

All animals must acquire energy through their feeding activities but obtain food resources from their environment in different ways depending on 1) the species 2) feeding ecology differences among populations living in different environments and 3) individual variation in feeding behavior within a given environment. Bioenergetics and bioenergetic models provide a method to establish the energy balance (kilojoules of food consumed per day relative to total daily energy needs or field metabolic rate) in animals and when coupled with biomass/production estimates allow an assessment of the trophic impacts, or the ecological footprint, of a given population on its environment. This type of information is needed to validate theoretical models of food web structure and to test the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem stability. Developing methods to measure animal bioenergetics in natural environments also has applications to establish the implications of fish stocking programs, invading species or fluctuations in key prey items in an ecosystem. Characterizing bioenergetics parameters (e.g. growth and food consumption) also allows assessment of the relative health of a population. Many stressors (e.g. toxic chemicals, nutrient enrichment, habitat loss and global warming) manifest themselves as bioenergetic effects and can provide an early warning of impacts of stressors on the population. This proposal will evaluate the use of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) as tracers of energy acquisition and feeding rates in free living aquatic amphibians and fish. Legacy pollutants such as the long-banned PCBs are globally distributed, exhibit reduced toxicity on account of decreases in environmental concentrations, and provide good tracers of ecological structure and bioenergetics. The described methods will use laboratory studies, pond-studies (mesocosms) and natural lakes and several indicator species including: leopard frogs, green frogs, bullfrogs, sunfish and rainbow trout to establish the method of POPs as bioenergetic tracers and evaluate the potential application of this technique to ecosystem management and ecosystem health assessment practices.

所有动物都必须通过摄食活动获取能量，但以不同的方式从环境中获取食物资源，具体取决于1）物种2）生活在不同环境中的种群之间的摄食生态差异和3）特定环境中摄食行为的个体差异。生物能量学和生物能量模型提供了一种建立动物能量平衡（相对于每日总能量需求或田间代谢率，每日消耗的食物千焦）的方法，当与生物量/产量估计相结合时，可以评估特定种群对其环境的营养影响或生态足迹。需要这类信息来验证食物网结构的理论模型，并测试物种多样性和生态系统稳定性之间的关系。开发测量自然环境中动物生物能量学的方法也可以应用于建立鱼类放养计划，入侵物种或生态系统中关键猎物项目波动的影响。生物能量学参数（例如生长和食物消耗）的特征也可以评估人口的相对健康状况。许多压力源（例如有毒化学品、营养富集、生境丧失和全球变暖）表现为生物能量效应，可以提供压力源对人口影响的预警。本提案将评估使用持久性有机污染物作为自由生活的水生两栖动物和鱼类的能量获取和摄食率的示踪剂的情况。长期禁用的多氯联苯等遗留污染物遍布全球，由于环境浓度的降低，毒性降低，并提供了良好的生态结构和生物能量学示踪剂。所述方法将利用实验室研究、池塘研究（围隔生态系统）和天然湖泊以及包括豹蛙、绿色蛙、牛蛙、翻车鱼和虹鳟鱼在内的若干指示物种来确立持久性有机污染物作为生物能示踪剂的方法，并评估该技术在生态系统管理和生态系统健康评估实践中的潜在应用。