Premium
Threshold elemental ratios of carbon and phosphorus in aquatic consumers
Author(s) -
Frost Paul C.,
Benstead Jonathan P.,
Cross Wyatt F.,
Hillebrand Helmut,
Larson James H.,
Xenopoulos Marguerite A.,
Yoshida Takehito
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
ecology letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 6.852
H-Index - 265
eISSN - 1461-0248
pISSN - 1461-023X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2006.00919.x
Subject(s) - ecological stoichiometry , detritivore , bioenergetics , phosphorus , invertebrate , ecology , biology , nutrient , nutrient cycle , carbon fibers , environmental chemistry , chemistry , materials science , organic chemistry , composite number , mitochondrion , composite material , microbiology and biotechnology
Inadequate supply of one or more mineral elements can slow the growth of animal consumers and alter their physiology, life history and behaviour. A key concept for understanding nutrient deficiency in animals is the threshold elemental ratio (TER), at which growth limitation switches from one element to another. We used a stoichiometric model that coupled animal bioenergetics and body elemental composition to estimate TER of carbon and phosphorus (TER C:P ) for 41 aquatic consumer taxa. We found a wide range in TER C:P (77–3086, ratio by atoms), which was generated by interspecific differences in body C : P ratios and gross growth efficiencies of C. TER C:P also varied among aquatic invertebrates having different feeding strategies, such that detritivores had significantly higher threshold ratios than grazers and predators. The higher TER C:P in detritivores resulted not only from lower gross growth efficiencies of carbon but also reflected lower body P content in these consumers. Supporting previous stoichiometric theory, we found TER C:P to be negatively correlated with the maximum growth rate of invertebrate consumers. By coupling bioenergetics and stoichiometry, this analysis revealed strong linkages among the physiology, ecology and evolution of nutritional demands for animal growth.