Universal temperature and body-mass scaling of feeding rates

• DOI: 10.1098/rstb.2012.0242
• Publication Date: 2012-09-24T07:28:13Z
• Authors: Björn C. Rall; Ulrich Brose; Martin Hartvig; Gregor Kalinkat; Florian Schwarzmü...; Olivera Vucic-Pestic; Owen L. Petchey
• Keywords: Ecological stability

Knowledge of feeding rates is the basis to understand interaction strength and subsequently stability ecosystems biodiversity. Feeding rates, as all biological depend on consumer resource body masses environmental temperature. Despite five decades research functional responses quantitative models a unifying framework how they scale with temperature still lacking. This perplexing, considering that (i.e. strengths) crucially important for simple consumer–resource systems persistence, sustainability biodiversity complex communities. Here, we present largest currently available database response parameters their scaling mass Moreover, these data are integrated across metabolic types species. Surprisingly, found general dependencies differed from Arrhenius terms predicted by models. Additionally, body-mass-scaling relationships were more than expected types. At local scales (taxonomically narrow groups pairs), hump-shaped deviations relationships. complexity our results, body-mass- temperature-scaling remain useful mechanistic predicting consequences warming strengths, population dynamics network communities differing in size structure.