The Respiratory Metabolism of Collembola Species from a Danish Beech Wood

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Abstract
The respiratory rates of 11 spp. [Onychiurus furcifer Boerner, O. armatus (Tullberg) s.l., Folsomia quadrioculata (Tullberg) s. Gisin, F. nana Gisin, F. quadrioculata (Tullberg) s.l., Isotomiella minor (Schaeffer), Isotoma notabilis Schaeffer, Lepidocyrtus lignorum Fabricius s. Gisin, L. lanuginosus Gmelin s. Gisin, Tomocerus flavescens (Tullberg), Sminthurinus aureus (Lubbock), S. flammeolus Gisin, Dicyrtomina minuta (O. Fabricius) s.l.] or species-groups were measured at 3 temperatures by open gradient respirometry. The relationship between respiratory rate and dry weight agrees with the allometric equation: R = a .cntdot. Wb. A pooled estimate of b was calculated for each species based on the lack of significance between the exponents found at each of the 3 temperatures. Most species have respiration-weight exponents between 0.75 and 0.85 which agree with the values most frequently recorded for poikilotherms. The pooled exponent of 0.96 for T. flavescens (Tullberg) indicates weight-proportional respiration. The elevation of the log respiratory/log dry weight regression line for deeper living species lies lower than for more superficially living species. A single function cannot describe the relationship between respiratory rate adjusted to metabolically effective body size and temperature for different species, but a preliminary exponential relationship is adopted. The Q10 values (range 1.9-3.4) agree for most species with published values for arthropods, but T. flavescens differs significantly by a high Q10 of 5.2.