Integrative measures of consumption rates in salmon: expansion and application of a trace element approach

• Title: Integrative measures of consumption rates in salmon: expansion and application of a trace element approach

 Author: BRIAN P. KENNEDY, BJOERN KLAUE, JOEL D. BLUM and CAROL L. FOLT

Reference: Journal of Applied, Ecology 200441 , 1009–1020            

doi:

Keywords: assimilation, bioenergetics, caesium (Cs), critical period, Atlantic salmon

Abstract: ► Establishing reliable estimates of consumption is necessary for understanding the physiology, bioenergetics and trophic relationships of organisms. For fish, the inability to measure consumption directly prevents a mechanistic understanding of habitat– foraging relationships. Building upon established models for 137caesium (Cs) mass balance in fish, we used natural abundances of a stable geologically derived isotope of Cs to estimate consumption rates over the first growing season for Atlantic salmon Salmo salar and to derive a general model that provides integrative estimates of consumption rates for individuals of all sizes.

URL: http://www.uiweb.uidaho.edu/cifees/publications/kennedy_jae2004.pdf