A bioenergetics model of the entire life cycle of the three‐spined stickleback, gasterosteus aculeatus

Abstract

A whole life‐cycle bioenergetic model based on the dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory was proposed for the three‐spined stickleback (Gasterosteus aculeatus). To develop this model, experiments on growth and reproduction were performed: adult and juvenile growth, size at first reproduction and amount of eggs spawned by females were monitored under different feeding levels and temperatures. The DEB parameters were estimated, using Bayesian statistics, based on the data produced during these experiments and on other data found in the literature. The model fitted accurately the different data used for the calibration process and, in addition, predicted accurately the data sets used to assess its predictability. Our bioenergetic model of the whole life cycle of the three‐spined stickleback accounting for environmental variations could contribute in many ways to improved ecological assessment: supporting change of scale from individual to populations; developing new biomarkers of exposure and effect; analysing ecotoxicity tests with biology‐based models.

Modelling historical mesocosm data: Application of a fish bioenergetics model in semi‐natural conditions

“…Parameter values were close to the ones estimated during the last calibration (Leloutre et al, 2018). Parameter values were close to the ones estimated during the last calibration (Leloutre et al, 2018).…”

“…We adapted the implementation of the feeding level in the DEB model of Leloutre et al (2018) using a hyperbolic functional response, as suggested by Kooijman (2010):…”

“…This theory resulted in the κ-rule DEB model which proposes that a fixed fraction κ is allocated to maintenance and growth and that the remaining fraction (1 − κ) is available for maturity and reproduction (Kooijman, 2010). In this study, we used the DEB model developed for the whole life cycle of the three-spined stickleback by Leloutre et al (2018). The equations are provided in Supporting Information Section 2.…”

“…Indeed, for a given amount of food in the environment, two fish predators with different length would not have the same level of satiety. According to Leloutre et al (2018), φ is a parameter which gives a theoretical value of the demand in energy of the fish to cover all its bioenergetics processes, including all its energy costs. At last, to take into account the effect of the temporal variation of water temperature during the experiments on the bioenergetic processes of sticklebacks, we examined how a temperature scenario could be integrated into a model using discrete time.…”

“…The effects of environmental factors on the sticklebacks biology has also been extensively studied in laboratory with both temperature and food availability affecting the biology of sticklebacks (Bell & Foster, 1994;Hopkins, Moss, & Gill, 2010;Hovel, Beauchamp, Hansen, & Sorel, 2015;Wootton, 1984). In addition, a bioenergetic model of the three-spined stickleback, based on the DEB theory (Kooijman, 2010) and describing its whole life cycle, has already been developed and calibrated using laboratory data (Leloutre, Péry, Porcher, & Beaudouin, 2018).…”