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Ingestion and assimilation of leaf litter in some tropical millipedes
Author(s) -
Dangerfield J. M.,
Milner Alice E.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
journal of zoology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.915
H-Index - 96
eISSN - 1469-7998
pISSN - 0952-8369
DOI - 10.1111/j.1469-7998.1993.tb02664.x
Subject(s) - biology , ingestion , assimilation (phonology) , temperate climate , plant litter , seasonality , millipede , zoology , dry weight , ecology , tropics , botany , ecosystem , philosophy , biochemistry , linguistics
Ingestion and assimilation rates in six species of tropical millipede (Diplopoda: Spirostreptidae) from southern Africa are estimated for the first time and were found to vary both within and between species. A proportion of this variability was attributable to variation in body size effects as individuals ranged from 0.2 to 2.9 g dry mass. Mean ingestion rates for each species were 17,30, 34.32 and 75 mg dry leaf litter per day (7.6 to 2.6% of body mass). Within species, ingestion rates explained between 35 and 53% of the variation in assimilation. Large size did not necessarily enhance assimilation efficiencies, which were between 7 and 26%) and comparable to assimilation efficiencies reported for temperate species, but did result in greater absolute ingestion and assimilation of organic material per individual.