Ta. Johnston et Ra. Cunjak, Dry mass-length relationships for benthic insects: a review with new data from Catamaran Brook, New Brunswick, Canada, FRESHW BIOL, 41(4), 1999, pp. 653-674
1. We summarized previously published mass-length relationships for aquatic
insects, and determined the relationship between dry body mass and body le
ngth for eight genera and seven families of benthic insects from Catamaran
Brook, New Brunswick, Canada.
2. A power function was the most commonly used model in the earlier studies
and best described the observed mass-length relationship for taxa from Cat
amaran Brook.
3. Predicted mass at length was highly variable (coefficient of variation g
reater than or equal to 25%) among models developed in different studies fo
r the same family group. This variability presumably resulted from both var
iation in the methods used to construct the models, and in the natural spat
io-temporal and taxonomic variation in mass at length, although the relativ
e contributions of these two sources cannot be determined from existing dat
a.
4. Several recommendations are made for the development and application of
mass-length equations in future studies.