S. Souissi et al., FOOD-DEPENDENT AND TEMPERATURE-DEPENDENT FUNCTION OF MOLTING RATE IN COPEPODS - AN EXAMPLE OF PARAMETERIZATION FOR POPULATION-DYNAMICS MODELS, Journal of plankton research, 19(9), 1997, pp. 1331-1346
The effects of temperature and food concentration on moulting rates in
copepods were studied. The distribution of transfer rates in differen
t stages of Euterpina acutifrons in different temperature and food con
centrations were simulated using a process model. These distributions
were fitted by an appropriate asymmetrical probability distribution: t
he gamma density function (GDF). A parameterization of moulting rates
established a continuous relationship between parameters of GDF, and t
he two external factors, temperature and food concentration. This func
tion can also represent the frequency distribution of successive devel
opmental stages in a cohort. Two examples of such representation are g
iven, using literature data.