Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry.

We explore a recent innovative variation of closed-system respirometry for terrestrial organisms, whereby pO2is repeatedly measured fluorometrically in a constant-volume chamber over multiple time points. We outline a protocol that aligns this technology with the broader literature on aerial respiro...

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Main Authors: Tomlinson, Sean, Dalziell, Emma, Withers, P., Lewandrowski, W., Dixon, Kingsley, Merritt, D.
Format: Journal Article
Published: The Company of Biologists Ltd. 2018
Online Access:http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66518
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author Tomlinson, Sean
Dalziell, Emma
Withers, P.
Lewandrowski, W.
Dixon, Kingsley
Merritt, D.
author_facet Tomlinson, Sean
Dalziell, Emma
Withers, P.
Lewandrowski, W.
Dixon, Kingsley
Merritt, D.
author_sort Tomlinson, Sean
building Curtin Institutional Repository
collection Online Access
description We explore a recent innovative variation of closed-system respirometry for terrestrial organisms, whereby pO2is repeatedly measured fluorometrically in a constant-volume chamber over multiple time points. We outline a protocol that aligns this technology with the broader literature on aerial respirometry, including the calculations required to accurately convert O2depletion to metabolic rate (MR). We identify a series of assumptions, and sources of error associated with this technique, including thresholds where O2depletion becomes limiting, that impart errors to the calculation and interpretation of MR. Using these adjusted calculations, we found that the resting MR of five species of angiosperm seeds ranged from 0.011 to 0.640 mL.g-1h-1, consistent with published seed MR. This innovative methodology greatly expands the lower size limit of terrestrial organisms that can be measured, and offers the potential for measuring MR changes over time as a result of physiological processes of the organism.
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institution Curtin University Malaysia
institution_category Local University
last_indexed 2025-11-14T10:30:08Z
publishDate 2018
publisher The Company of Biologists Ltd.
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spelling curtin-20.500.11937-665182023-04-26T07:08:23Z Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry. Tomlinson, Sean Dalziell, Emma Withers, P. Lewandrowski, W. Dixon, Kingsley Merritt, D. We explore a recent innovative variation of closed-system respirometry for terrestrial organisms, whereby pO2is repeatedly measured fluorometrically in a constant-volume chamber over multiple time points. We outline a protocol that aligns this technology with the broader literature on aerial respirometry, including the calculations required to accurately convert O2depletion to metabolic rate (MR). We identify a series of assumptions, and sources of error associated with this technique, including thresholds where O2depletion becomes limiting, that impart errors to the calculation and interpretation of MR. Using these adjusted calculations, we found that the resting MR of five species of angiosperm seeds ranged from 0.011 to 0.640 mL.g-1h-1, consistent with published seed MR. This innovative methodology greatly expands the lower size limit of terrestrial organisms that can be measured, and offers the potential for measuring MR changes over time as a result of physiological processes of the organism. 2018 Journal Article http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66518 10.1242/jeb.172874 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/LP160100381 The Company of Biologists Ltd. fulltext
spellingShingle Tomlinson, Sean
Dalziell, Emma
Withers, P.
Lewandrowski, W.
Dixon, Kingsley
Merritt, D.
Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry.
title Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry.
title_full Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry.
title_fullStr Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry.
title_full_unstemmed Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry.
title_short Measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry.
title_sort measuring metabolic rates of small terrestrial organisms by fluorescence-based closed-system respirometry.
url http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/IC150100041
http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11937/66518