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A multiple regression model for predicting the energy requirements of marine mammals

University of British Columbia

Marine ecosystem management has prompted the need for better understanding of the impact of marine mammals in the oceans. Using the wealth of information available in the literature, a rule-based multiple regression model was developed to estimate the energy requirements of all 124 marine mammal species. This meta-analysis modelling framework provided a simple means for estimating the energetics (metabolism or consumption) of marine mammals under varying conditions, as a function of easily obtained or estimated physiological and environmental variables, including morphology, developmental stage, growth, sex, reproductive status, health, activity, postabsorptive state, thermoneutral condition, and season. Based on different combinations of input variables, a set of empirical equations was developed. The empirical equations provide an objective predictive tool for estimating the energy requirements of data-deficient marine mammal species. Extensive model validation indicated that all models were robust to their statistical assumptions, including phylogenetic independence, and captured a substantial amount of the observed heterogeneity in energy requirements (up to 82% residual variance). Equations also synthesize evidence of a uniform pattern of energy use, from consumption to expenditure, and provide quantitative rough estimates of the components of the bioenergetic framework for all marine mammal species. Results suggest that body mass is a better predictor of energy requirements than body length, although length may be used in circumstances when mass cannot be estimated or measured. Of the parameters considered, model predictions were most sensitive to uncertainty in morphology, developmental stage, activity, and growth. By including flexibility in prediction and uncertainty in estimates, results extend the simple allometric scaling relationships with mass alone (e.g., Kleiber's Equation), and refine estimates of marine mammal energy requirements currently available. Results serve as a useful starting point from which complex analyses can proceed, and provide a basis against which other models can be compared. The method provides an objective means for researchers and resource managers to select an equation most appropriate for their predictive needs, even for data-deficient species, given different levels of available input information. The empirical models are useful tools for parameterizing ecosystem models and can be used to help address ecological questions and issues pertaining to conservation and resource management.

Text

2010-01-06

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http://hdl.handle.net/2429/17597

Zoology

University of British Columbia

UBCV

DSpace