An experimental test of the effects of temperature and resource quality on carrying capacity

The Metabolic Theory of Ecology links the effects of temperature on metabolic rates at the cellular scale to large-scale ecological processes, providing a framework to predict how individuals, populations, and communities will respond to climate change. Metabolic Theory predicts that carrying shows a unimodal (hump-shaped) relationship with temperature, and that this hump will be flatter at low resource qualities. However, few studies have empirically tested this prediction, despite the importance of carrying capacity in understanding population persistence. To test the predicted effect of temperature on carrying capacity and to determine whether this is mediated by resource quality, we conducted a fully crossed experiment in which we grew populations of the model organism Tribolium castaneum for 22 weeks at all combinations of four temperatures (27.5 °C, 30 °C, 32.5 °C, and 35 °C) and three resource qualities (flour types). Our results support the predictions that carrying capacity fol..., , # Data for: The effects of temperature and resource quality on carrying capacity

Dataset DOI: [10.5061/dryad.fn2z34v69](10.5061/dryad.fn2z34v69)

## Description of the data and file structure

To investigate the effects of temperature and nutrient quality on carrying capacity, we conducted an experiment with *Tribolium castaneum* flour beetles in temperature and humidity-controlled growth chambers at the University of Guelph, Ontario. The experimental design consisted of four temperatures (27.5 °C, 30 °C, 32.5 °C, and 35 °C) fully crossed with three resource levels (flour types), for a total of 16 treatments. Each treatment was replicated three times, resulting in a total of 36 experimental units (independent beetle population in a plastic container). We counted beetles for 11 counts (22 weeks) and measured body size at the beginning (founder) and end of the experiment. 

### Files and variables

#### File: Weiss_et_al._Dryad_data.xlsx

##### Variables

* The dataset contains three she...,