A method for measuring food carbon assimilation in the copepod
Calanus finmarchicus was developed, using the diatom Ditylum
brightwelli as food. The amount of particulate food carbon ingested
was determined as the difference between CHN analyzer analyses for
particulate food carbon of pre- and post-grazed food suspensions.
The fraction of ingested food that was assimilated as organic
matter was determined by a modified Conover gravimetric ratio
method. This fraction was computed as:
U=(F'-E')/(l-E')F'
where F' and E' were the ash free dry weight:dry weight ratios of the
copepods' food and feces, respectively.
The fraction of ingested organic matter assimilated (U) multiplied
by the amount of food carbon ingested estimated the amount of
food carbon assimilated, assuming that the fraction of organic matter
assimilated by the copepods was identical to the fraction of food
carbon assimilated.
Assimilation fraction determinations agreed well with those in
the literature. The consistency in the carbon assimilation rates
obtained apparently indicated a seasonal uniformity in absolute food
carbon assimilated by adult Calanus. / Graduation date: 1969
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ORGSU/oai:ir.library.oregonstate.edu:1957/28889 |
| Date | 20 December 1968 |
| Creators | O'Connors, Harold Blane Jr |
| Contributors | Small, Lawrence F. |
| Source Sets | Oregon State University |
| Language | en_US |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis/Dissertation |
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