From food-dependent statistics to metabolic parameters,
a practical guide to the use of Dynamic Energy Budget theory
Kooijman, S.A.L.M., Sousa, T., Pecquerie, L. Meer, J. van der and Jager, T.
2008.
From food-dependent statistics to metabolic parameters,
a practical guide to the use Dynamic Energy Budget theory.
Biol. Rev. , 83, 533--552
Abstract
The standard model of the dynamic energy budget theory for
metabolic organisation has variables and parameters that can be
quantified using indirect methods only. We present new methods
(and software) to extract food-independent parameter values of the
energy budget from food-dependent quantities that are easy to
observe, and so facilitate the practical application of the theory
to enhance predictability and extrapolation. A natural sequence of
10 steps is discussed to obtain some compound parameters first,
then the primary parameters, then the composition parameters and
finally the thermodynamic parameters; this sequence matches a
sequence of required data of increasing complexity which is
discussed in detail. Many applications do not require knowledge of
all parameters, and we discuss methods to extrapolate parameters
from one species to another. The conversion of mass, volume and
energy measures of biomass is discussed; these conversions are not
trivial because biomass can change in chemical composition in
particular ways thanks to different forms of homeostasis. We solve
problems like ``What would be the ultimate reproduction rate and
the von Bertalanffy growth rate at a specific food level, given
that we have measured these statistics at abundant food?'' and
``What would be the maximum incubation time, given the parameters
of the von Bertalanffy growth curve?''. We propose a new
non-destructive method for quantifying the chemical potential and
entropy of living reserve and structure, that can potentially
change our ideas on the thermodynamic properties of life. We
illustrate the methods using data on daphnids and molluscs.