title: The effect of temperature on the respiration rate of meiofauna.
abstract: The effect of temperature on respiration rate has been established, using Cartesian divers, for the meiofaunal sabellid polychaeteManayunkia aestuarina, the free-living nematodeSphaerolaimus hirsutus and the harpacticoid copepodTachidius discipes from a mudflat in the Lynher estuary, Cornwall, U.K. Over the temperature range normally experienced in the field, i.e. 5-20° C the size-compensated respiration rate (Rc) was related to the temperature (T) in °C by the equation Log10Rc=-0.635+0.0339T forManayunkia, Log10Rc=0.180+0.0069T forSphaerolaimus and Log10Rc=-0.428+0.0337T forTachidius, being equivalent toQ10values of 2.19, 1.17 and 2.17 respectively. In order to derive the temperature response forManayunkia a relationship was first established between respiration rate and body size: Log10R=0.05+0.75 Log10V whereR=respiration in nl·O2·ind-1·h-1andV=body volume in nl.TheQ10values are compared with values for other species derived from the literature. From these limited data a dichotomy emerges: species with aQ10≏2 which apparently feed on diatoms and bacteria, the abundance of which are subject to large short term variability, and species withQ10≏1 apparently dependent on more stable food sources.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, PL1 3DH, Plymouth, UK.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Price
authors.affiliation: Institute for Marine Environmental Research, Prospect Place, The Hoe, PL1 3DH, Plymouth, UK.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Warwick