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The Maximum Power Principle in Behavioral Thermoregulation by Fishes
Author(s) -
Bryan J. D.,
Kelsch S. W.,
Neill W. H.
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
transactions of the american fisheries society
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.696
H-Index - 86
eISSN - 1548-8659
pISSN - 0002-8487
DOI - 10.1577/1548-8659(1990)119<0611:tmppib>2.3.co;2
Subject(s) - scope (computer science) , thermoregulation , residence time (fluid dynamics) , fish <actinopterygii> , metabolic rate , power (physics) , environmental science , residence , temperature gradient , ecology , mechanics , biology , meteorology , thermodynamics , fishery , physics , computer science , economics , engineering , geotechnical engineering , demographic economics , programming language , endocrinology
The maximum power principle suggests that successful biological systems maximize the flow of useful energy. Using this principle in conjunction with Fryˈs metabolic scope concept, we have developed a model of behavioral thermoregulation for fishes that reasonably predicts frequency distributions and swimming speeds of fish in thermal gradients: fish respond to temperature gradients by swimming at speeds that are proportional to the rate of change of metabolic scope with respect to temperature. As a result, reduced thermoregulatory swimming power occurs at temperatures that give higher levels of metabolic scope; this maximizes both available surplus power and residence time under conditions of high surplus power availability. Within the zone of high residence time (=preferred temperature zone), fish respond to changes in the gradient of metabolic scope with increased turning, thus increasing their frequency of occurrence near the temperature that permits maximum metabolic scope.