A temperature- and size-dependent model of sand shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa) predation on juvenile winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus)

2003 ◽  
Vol 60 (9) ◽  
pp. 1133-1148 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L Taylor ◽  
Jeremy S Collie

We investigated the temperature-mediated vulnerability of postsettled winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) to sand shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa) predation. Small increases in flounder growth rates substantially decreased predator-induced mortality. Recent warming trends in Northwest Atlantic estuaries can increase flounder survival by accelerating growth and minimizing the duration during which juveniles are susceptible to size-dependent predation. Extreme temperature increases, however, depress growth because a disproportionate amount of energy is devoted to increased metabolism, leaving less for somatic development. Flounder survival is also reduced during warm years because of intensified shrimp predation. Moreover, interannual variations in temperature affect the relative timing of shrimp migration and flounder settlement, thus controlling the spatial and temporal overlap between predator and prey. Predicted flounder abundance and survival were statistically unrelated to observed flounder abundance sampled annually during late spring. However, model predictions and field data suggest that flounder abundance is maximal in years when seasonally averaged temperature is approximately 16 °C. Above and below this temperature, flounder year-class size is considerably lower, possibly as a result of temperature effects on trophic dynamics. We conclude that shrimp predation is a significant source of mortality for postsettled flounder, but it is not the sole determinant of interannual variations in recruitment.

Author(s):  
Alan J. H. McGaughey ◽  
Daniel P. Sellan ◽  
Eric S. Landry ◽  
Cristina H. Amon

We present a closed-form classical model for the size dependence of thin film thermal conductivity. The model predictions are compared to Stillinger-Weber silicon thin film thermal conductivities (in-plane and cross-plane directions) calculated using phonon properties obtained from lattice dynamics calculations. By including the frequency dependence of the phonon-phonon relaxation times, the model is able to capture the approach to the bulk thermal conductivity better than models based on a single relaxation time.


2005 ◽  
Vol 62 (7) ◽  
pp. 1611-1625 ◽  
Author(s):  
David L Taylor ◽  
Donald J Danila

This study estimated rates of sand shrimp (Crangon septemspinosa) predation on winter flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus) eggs and examined the effect of temperature on density-dependent mortality of early-stage flounder. In laboratory experiments, shrimp feeding rates on flounder eggs were positively correlated with temperature and shrimp size. Immunological assays of shrimp stomach contents indicated that 7.2% of shrimp collected from the Niantic River (Connecticut) had flounder eggs in their stomachs. Incidence of egg predation was highest in February (20%) and decreased continuously into early April (1.2%). In a deterministic model simulating predator-induced mortality of flounder eggs during a spawning season, shrimp consumed 0.4%–49.7% of the total flounder spawn. Variations in shrimp population abundance and size structure accounted for the greatest variability in egg mortality. Water temperature during the spawning season presumably alters the population dynamics of early-stage flounder. In a long-term survey, the number of yolk-sac flounder larvae in warm years (≥4.3 °C) was depressed at high egg densities, indicating strong compensatory processes that increased egg mortality and limited the abundance of larvae. Failure of flounder to produce strong year-classes of larvae during warm years, possibly resulting from altered trophic dynamics, may explain the inability of stocks to recover from previous overexploitation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 259 ◽  
pp. 113457
Author(s):  
Zanhang He ◽  
Jianghong Xue ◽  
Sishi Yao ◽  
Yongfu Wu ◽  
Fei Xia

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