THE RESPIRATORY ETS IS THE CASUAL BASIS FOR THE ALLOMETRIC
RELATIONSHIP IN KLEIBER'S LAW
Kleibe ’s Law, ela ing an o ganism’s biomass (M) wi h i s espi a ion a e (R), ollows he allome ic equa ion, R=aM0.75.I holds
o e 20 o de s o magni ude o R and has gained inc easing impo ance in ecen yea s, because i se es as he basis o he
Me abolic Theo y o Ecology. (B own e al, 2004). Why does he M-R ela ionship in Kleibe 's Law wo k? We a gue ha because is he
espi a o y Vmax, because, h ough s oichiome y, po en ial espi a ion ()is equi alen o he ac i i y o he espi a o y elec on
anspo sys em (ETS), and because he ETS is cons i u i e, bo h ETS and would ack biomass be e han R. To in es iga e his,
zooplank on samples om he Cana y Islands T ansi ion Zone and om cul u es o a emia (A emia sp.), mysids (Lep omysis ling u a)
and p o ozoa (Oxy his ma ina) we e analysed o ag eemen wi h Kleibe 's Law.
Conclusions:
1.- In well-nou ished o ganisms (Upwelling and cyclonic eddy a eas and mysids well ed) he slope o he log-log plo s o -M is nea 1, indica ing a di ec
ela ionship. This means ha and M a e di ec ly linea ly ela ed and do no ollow he allome ic equa ion and consequen ly do no equi e a loga i hmic
ans o ma ion.
2.- In coas al s a ions, in mysid cul u es in s anda d condi ions, and in esh zooplank on samples (Packa d and Gómez, 2008), he slope o log-log plo s o
-M is lowe han in well- ed o ganisms and close o Kleibe ’s law (0.75).
3.- In s a ed o ganisms, in cul u es main ained on low ood le els, and in he o sho e (oceanic) s a ions, he log-log -M slope is lowe han Kleibe ’s
Law (b < 0.75).
4.- In gene al, conside ing all he pooled ield da a (lowe igh ), he exponen in he - M ela ionship is close o 1 han i is in Kleibe ’s Law.
M. Gómez, I. Fe nández-U uzola, A. He e a, F. Maldonado-U ibe, I. Ma ínez, N. Osma and T. Packa d
Biological Oceanog aphy Labo a o y, Depa men o Biology. Uni e si y o Las Palmas de G an Cana ia.
FIELD EXPERIMENTS
UPWELLING STATIONS
y = 0,8862x + 0,1432
R2 = 0,5254
-1,5
-1
-0,5
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
-1,5 -1 -0,5 0 0,5 1 1,5 2
Biomass (Logmgp o )
Log Φ (µmolO2h-1)
Slope = 0.886 (n = 248)
COASTAL STATIONS
y = 0,7925x + 0,0832
R2 = 0,6425
-1,5
-1
-0,5
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
-1,5 -1 -0,5 0 0,5 1 1,5 2
Biomass (Log mg p o )
Log Φ (µmolO2h-1)
Slope = 0.797 (n = 64)
OFFSHORE STATIONS
y = 0,6441x - 0,0297
R2 = 0,3784
-1,5
-1
-0,5
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
-1,5 -1 -0,5 0 0,5 1 1,5 2
Biomass (L og mgp o )
L og Φ (µmolO2h-1)
Slope = 0.644 (n = 220)
EDDY STATIONS
y = 0,9787x - 0,1254
R2 = 0,4771
-1,5
-1
-0,5
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
-1,5 -1 -0,5 0 0,5 1 1,5 2
Biomass (L ogmgp o )
L og Φ (µmolO2h-1)
Slope = 0.978 (n = 30)
Packa d and Gómez (2008)
y = 1,0078x - 0,0689
R2 = 0,6653
-1,5
-1
-0,5
0
0,5
1
1,5
2
-1,5 -1 -0,5 0 0,5 1 1,5 2
Biomass (Log mgp o )
Log Φ (µmolO2h-1)
ALL STATIONS
Slope = 1.007 (n=672)
Zooplank on samples Lep omysis ling u a
A emia sp.
Oxy his ma ina
ALL MYSIDS WELL FED (200 ARTEMIA NAUPLII) MYSIDS, ARTEMIA & OXYRRHIS STARVED
Slope = 0.49 (n=76)
LABORATORY EXPERIMENTS
MYSIDS FED 300 ARTEMIA NAUPLII MYSIDS FED 150 ARTEMIA NAUPLII MYSIDS FED 20 ARTEMIA NAUPLII
Slope = 0.716 (n =34) Slope = 0.706 (n =36) Slope = 0.535 (n =35)
MYSIDS IN STANDARD CULTURES
MYSIDS WELL FED ARTEMIA IN LOW FOOD CONDITIONS
Slope = 0.923 (n =32) Slope = 0.74 (n = 15) Slope = 0.255 (n = 16)
Slope = 0.79 (n=47)
EDDIE STATIONS
UPWELLING STATIONS
COASTAL STATIONS
OFFSHORE STATIONS