27th Annual Student Research Conference
Scaling of Metabolic Power Laws
Joseph M. Milliano* and Mackenzie Schimpf
Dr. Chad Montgomery and Dr. Phil Ryan, Faculty Mentors
Resting metabolic rate (RMR), the rate at which an organism uses energy for maintenance, is an important component of the energy budget of all living organisms. As RMR is affected by body size, there has been much debate about how metabolic rate scales with animal mass. If an allometric scaling law exists between metabolic rate Q and animal mass M, then the relationship would be of the form Q=kM^b for constant k and exponent b. Some argue that b is 2/3, based on surface area to volume, while most argue it is 3/4 due to fractal splitting of biological systems. Others still argue that no single metabolic law exists or is dependent on phylogenetic lineage. We will use flow-through respirometry to measure CO2 production in a variety of species. We will use our data in combination with metabolic data from the literature to determine support for scaling laws.
Keywords: Metabolic Power Law, Scaling, respirometry, allometry, Resting Metabolic Rate, Mathematical Biology
Topic(s):Mathematical Biology
Biology
Mathematics
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Session: 103-3
Location: MG 1098
Time: 8:30