Copepod respiration increases by 7% per degree °C increase in temperature: a meta-analysis

Exponential increase in respiration rate with increasing temperature in poikilotherms is well documented, however, the overall rate of change varies greatly across copepod taxa. Studies often report magnitude of change, but the rate of change in respiration across multiple temperatures is equivocal. We used 32 studies spanning 78 years of research and 50 copepod species (three orders) to quantify percent increase in respiration rates per one-unit increase in temperature. We found that copepod respiration rates increased with temperature by 7% across three well-studied orders, Calanoida, Cyclopoida, and Harpacticoida. Neither food availability nor scaling respiration to copepod dry weight affected the rate of change of respiration rates. Studies using Winkler titration to measure oxygen consumption produced significantly larger percent changes in respiration, whereas newer methods such as fiber optics produced smaller effects. These results have far reaching implications, suggesting that...