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Model of copepod filtering response to changes in size and concentration of food 1
Author(s) -
Lam Ronald K.,
Frost Bruce W.
Publication year - 1976
Publication title -
limnology and oceanography
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.7
H-Index - 197
eISSN - 1939-5590
pISSN - 0024-3590
DOI - 10.4319/lo.1976.21.4.0490
Subject(s) - copepod , functional response , filter (signal processing) , filtration (mathematics) , zoology , ingestion , biology , clearance rate , ecology , biological system , food science , mathematics , crustacean , statistics , endocrinology , predation , predator , computer science , computer vision
Observations indicate that there are three phases in the feeding response of adult females of Calanus pacificus to differences in food concentration. At low concentrations of food, the copepods filter at some reduced rate. As the food supply is increased, the animals increase their filtration rate until some maximum rate is reached. They then maintain this maximum rate until a critical food density is exceeded, at which point the copepods decrease their filtering rate (hold a constant ingestion rate) with further increases in food concentration. A model based on simple arguments concerning the net rate of energy gain to a filter feeder is constructed which predicts functional dependencies of the filtering rate on food concentration for three regions, corresponding to the three phases of feeding behavior observed. The parameters controlling the filtering response in the model are functions of the animal’s characteristic length and the size of the food particles.