Thermal Impact and the Relevance of Body Size and Activity on the Oxygen Consumption of a Terrestrial Snail, <i>Theba pisana</i> (Helicidae) at High Ambient Temperatures

oleh: Sascha Zimmermann, Ulrich Gärtner, Gabriel S. Ferreira, Heinz-R. Köhler, David Wharam

Format: Article
Diterbitkan: MDPI AG 2024-01-01

Deskripsi

Metabolism, mainly driven by oxygen consumption, plays a key role in life, as it is one of the main ways to respond to extreme temperatures through internal processes. <i>Theba pisana</i>, a widespread Mediterranean land snail, is exposed to a wide range of ambient temperature. In this species the oxygen consumption was tested as a response variable by multiple regression modelling on the “explanatory” variables shell-free mass, temperature, and relative humidity. Our results show that the oxygen consumption of <i>T. pisana</i> can be well described (73.1%) by these three parameters. In the temperature range from 23 °C to 35 °C the oxygen consumption decreased with increasing temperature. Relative humidity, in the range of 67% to 100%, had the opposite effect: if it increases, oxygen consumption will increase as well. Metabolism is proportional to an individual’s mass to the power of the allometric scaling exponent <i>α</i>, which is between 0.62 and 0.77 in the mentioned temperature range. CT scans of shells and gravimetry revealed the shell-free mass to be calculated by multiplying the shell diameter to the third power by 0.2105. Data were compared to metabolic scaling exponents for other snails reported in the literature.