Starvation metabolism of two common species of chironomids in Biandantang Lake

1 INTRODUCTION Chironomid larvae are main groups in most aquatic ecosystems, playing a crucial ecological role in decomposition of detritus and material ex- changes between water column and the sediment (Liang et al., 1995a, b; Chen, et al., 1982). They a…

Starvation metabolism of two common species of chironomids in Biandantang Lake

Starvation metabolism is one of the important parts of respiration for normal activities of chironomids. During April 1996 to March 1997, the relationships of starvation metabolism and temperature, body weight of two common chironomids in Biandantang Lake were carefully investigated. The results showed relationship between starvation metabolism (R, mgO₂/ind.d) and body weight (Ww, mg wet wt) was:Chironomus plumosus lgR=−2.573+1.0211gWw (5°C), lgR=−2.710+1.354lgWw (10°C), lgR=−1.824+0.823 lgWw (15°C), lgR=−1.364+0.442lg,Ww (20°C), lgR=−2.763+1.517lgWw (25°C); andTokunagayusurika akamusi, lgR=−2.390+0.752lgWw (5°C), lgR=−1.978+0.710lgWw (10°C), lgR=−1.676+0.648lgWw (15°C), lgR=−1.517+0.650lgWw (20°C), lgR=−2.434+1.290lgWw (25°C). Relationship of starvation metabolism and temperature (T, °C) was:C. plumosus, R=−0.051+0.021T−0.0006T ²;T. akamusi, R=−0.051+0.021T−0.0006T ². The complex relationship of the three parameters was:C. plumosus,R=0.0098Ww ^0.3882e^0.1068T ;T. akamusi,R=0.0012Ww ^1.1936e^0.0711T . With the above regressions, the estimated annual starvation metabolisms of the two chironomid species in Biandantang Lake were:C. plumosus, 24.2791 kJ/m².a;T. akamusi, 8.7864 kJ/m².a, respectively. This provides a firm foundation for the comparative study of bioenergetics of the chironomids. Supported by NSFC (No. 30270278, 39430101 and 3960019)