Demographic evaluation of the influence of temperature and salinity on the copepod Eurytemora herdmani

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Abstract
Demographic responses of the estuarine copepod E. herdmani to several combinations of temperature and salinity were evaluated in the laboratory. Observed values of the intrinsic rate of population increase, r, ranged from -0.069 day-1 to 0.088 day-1. Over the experimental range of 15 to 35.permill. and 10 to 20.degree. C, the observed values of r at 20 to 30.permill. were higher than those at 15 or 35.permill.; observed values of r at 20.degree. C were lower than those observed at the lower temperatures. Temperature was found to influence the rate of population growth primarily through age of reproduction while salinity effects were primarily through fecundity. The extrapolated limits of temperature and salinity permitting population growth were generally consistent with reported occurrences of E. herdmani in the field.