A generic model to estimate food consumption: linking von Bertalanffy’s growth model with Beverton and Holt’s and Ivlev’s concepts of net conversion efficiency

2009 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Axel Temming ◽  
Jens P. Herrmann

In this paper, a mathematical derivation is presented that links von Bertalanffy’s growth model with the concept of net conversion efficiency of Beverton and Holt, aiming at the development of an equation that can calculate food consumption rates of wild populations from parameters of the von Bertalanffy growth equation and an estimate of the net food conversion efficiency of Beverton and Holt. The derivation is based on Pauly’s version of the generalized von Bertalanffy equation, which allows the allometric exponent of the anabolism term to differ from 2/3, as in the standard von Bertalanffy equation. As a side product, a general model is formulated that describes the gross growth conversion efficiency (K1 of Ivlev) as a function of weight of the organism. The new equations for the estimation of food consumption are applied in two case studies, North Sea cod ( Gadus morhua ) and whiting ( Merlangius merlangus ), for which a variety of consumption estimates is available from conventional gastric evacuation-based methods. The new method produces results that show a similar degree of variability as was observed in various applications of the gastric evacuation method.

1968 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 288-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. C. Hufbauer

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, several Punjab Settlement Officers attempted to estimate food consumption rates. These estimates, based on direct observation and ad hoc guesses, were made partly out of academic curiosity, but more urgently, as an aid in establishing the land revenue (i.e., tax) rates. The pre-1926 estimates are summarized in Table I, expressed in pounds of wheat and other foodgrain consumption per person per year1. Broadly speaking, the later, more systemtic observers (e.g., Sir Ganga Ram and C. B. Barry), found lower consumption levels than the earlier observers. It was generally accepted that the rural populace ate better than urban dwellers. Despite the ingenuity of the early Settlement Officers, their compiled estimates suffer from all the difficulties of haphazard small sample observation. Given the revenue purpose of the estimates, they may be biased towards the able-bodied, economically active, population. Further, the very early estimates may have confused dry weight with cooked weight, including water.


2005 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 129-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. A. H Penna ◽  
M. A Villacorta-Corrêa ◽  
T. Walter ◽  
M. Petrere-JR

In order to decide which is the best growth model for the tambaqui Colossoma macropomum Cuvier, 1818, we utilized 249 and 256 length-at-age ring readings in otholiths and scales respectively, for the same sample of individuals. The Schnute model was utilized and it is concluded that the Von Bertalanffy model is the most adequate for these data, because it proved highly stable for the data set, and only slightly sensitive to the initial values of the estimated parameters. The phi' values estimated from five different data sources presented a CV = 4.78%. The numerical discrepancies between these values are of not much concern due to the high negative correlation between k and L<FONT FACE=Symbol>¥</FONT> viz, so that when one of them increases, the other decreases and the final result in phi' remains nearly unchanged.


1981 ◽  
Vol 32 (4) ◽  
pp. 657 ◽  
Author(s):  
MJ Williams ◽  
MCL Dredge

Tag-recapture data were used to determine growth and movement of A. japonicum balloti. The von Bertalanffy growth model was found to be suitable for describing growth in the latter half of the size range for A. japonicum balloti, and estimated S∞ of scallops varied with year and area. A. japonicum balloti grows rapidly, being recruited to the commercial fishery at about 6 months of age in some cases. Recapture data indicated that A. japonicum balloti does not undergo long-distance displacements in its post-larval stage.


2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-115 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julianne E. Harris ◽  
Courtney Newlon ◽  
Philip J. Howell ◽  
Ryan C. Koch ◽  
Steven L. Haeseker

2007 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 269-277
Author(s):  
D. Pascual ◽  
D.A. Maguire ◽  
F. Bravo

Abstract Evaluations of response to variable silvicultural treatments play a key role in developing sustainable forest management. To evaluate silvicultural response, a growth and yield model is needed. A comparison between similar species could act as a logical first step toward building a growth and yield model and to test the efficiency of the calibration of an existing ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa Dougl. ex Laws.) growth model to a Mediterranean maritime pine (Pinus pinaster Ait. ssp. mesogeensis) growth model. This study aimed at (1) comparing the diameter growth pattern between ponderosa and Mediterranean maritime pine, and (2) assessing the potential of ORGANON for simulating Mediterranean maritime pine growth and yield. The first objective was addressed by fitting a diameter growth equation for Mediterranean maritime pine and comparing it with patterns in ponderosa pine growth represented by the corresponding equation in ORGANON. The second objective was addressed by growing Mediterranean maritime pine as ponderosa pine in ORGANON, conditional on observed diameter growth rates of Mediterranean maritime pine in Spain. The results emphasized the unsuitability of ORGANON for predicting diameter growth of Mediterranean maritime pine in Spain. Mediterranean maritime pine diameter growth depended on basal area in trees with a diameter larger than the subject tree, (BAL) which, in our context is a subrogate of competition from above.


1992 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 632-643 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. J. Mulligan ◽  
B. M. Leaman

Observations at a single point in time of length-at-age (LAA) for a long-lived rockfish (Sebastes alutus) show that old fish are shorter than intermediate-aged fish. Fitting of a von Bertalanffy growth model to these data produces a systematic trend in the residual of observed versus calculated LAA. We examined how such LAA data can lead to erroneous conclusions about individual growth, and whether asymptotic growth can give rise to such data. We considered two hypotheses: (i) that a time trend in growth rate resulted in larger fish in more recent years and (ii) that there are multiple growth types, where growth and mortality rates are directly related. Using a general growth model that incorporated both (i) and (ii), we show that both hypotheses can generate data identical to those for the rockfish. A single set of LAA data is inadequate for describing individual growth; however, if sufficient data are available, model ambiguity can be resolved and reasonable parameter estimates obtained. Analysis of the rockfish data indicates that (ii) is more likely to explain the observations than (i). We show how fisheries on such species may preclude our understanding these biological relationships.


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