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The scaling of diving time budgets : insights from an optimality approach

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Boyd_2008_AmNat_TheScaling.pdf (305.1Kb)
Date
03/2008
Author
Stephens, PA
Carbone, C
Boyd, Ian Lamont
McNamara, J M
Harding, K C
Houston, A I
Keywords
allometry
diving physiology
marginal value theorem
metabolic scaling
optimal foraging
symmorphosis
Lions eumetopias-jubatus
Optimal foraging models
Basal metabolic-rate
Body oxygen stores
Optimal allocation
Respiratory variables
Swimming speed
Weddell seals
Dive-recovery
Behavior
QH301 Biology
Metadata
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Abstract
Simple scaling arguments suggest that, among air-breathing divers, dive duration should scale approximately with mass to the one-third power. Recent phylogenetic analyses appear to confirm this. The same analyses showed that duration of time spent at the surface between dives has scaling very similar to that of dive duration, with the result that the ratio of dive duration to surface pause duration is approximately mass invariant. This finding runs counter to other arguments found in the diving literature that suggest that surface pause duration should scale more positively with mass, leading to a negative scaling of the dive-pause ratio. We use a published model of optimal time allocation in the dive cycle to show that optimal decisions can predict approximate mass invariance in the dive-pause ratio, especially if metabolism scales approximately with mass to the two-thirds power (as indicated by some recent analyses) and oxygen uptake is assumed to have evolved to supply the body tissues at the required rate. However, emergent scaling rules are sensitive to input parameters, especially to the relationship between the scaling of metabolism and oxygen uptake rate at the surface. Our results illustrate the utility of an optimality approach for developing predictions and identifying key areas for empirical research on the allometry of diving behavior.
Citation
Stephens , PA , Carbone , C , Boyd , I L , McNamara , J M , Harding , K C & Houston , A I 2008 , ' The scaling of diving time budgets : insights from an optimality approach ' , American Naturalist , vol. 171 , no. 3 , pp. 305-314 . https://doi.org/10.1086/527491
Publication
American Naturalist
Status
Peer reviewed
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1086/527491
ISSN
1537-5323
Type
Journal article
Rights
Copyright, 2008, by The University of Chicago.
Description
The authors acknowledge the Natural Environment Research Council for support with this work (grant NER/A/S/2003/00616).
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  • University of St Andrews Research
URL
http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=40549098429&partnerID=8YFLogxK
http://www.press.uchicago.edu/ucp/journals/journal/an.html
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10023/5120

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