Data from: 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 follows a unimodal
relationship with temperature and that it declines at lower resource
qualities. However, we found no interactive effect of temperature and
resource quality on carrying capacity. These findings support recent
updates to theory describing temperature’s effect on carrying capacity,
and contribute to our understanding of how population dynamics will shift
under climate change.

生态学代谢理论（Metabolic Theory of Ecology）将细胞尺度下温度对代谢速率的影响与大尺度生态过程相联结，为预测个体、种群及群落如何响应气候变化提供了理论框架。该理论预测，环境容纳量（carrying capacity）与温度呈单峰（驼峰状）关系，且在资源质量较低时，该驼峰会更为平缓。然而，尽管环境容纳量对于理解种群存续至关重要，但鲜有研究对该预测开展实证检验。为检验温度对环境容纳量的预测效应，并明确该效应是否受资源质量介导，我们开展了一套完全交叉实验：以模式生物（model organism）赤拟谷盗（Tribolium castaneum）的种群为研究对象，在4种温度（27.5℃、30℃、32.5℃及35℃）与3种资源质量（面粉类型）的所有组合条件下，连续培养22周。本研究结果证实了相关预测：环境容纳量与温度呈单峰关系，且在资源质量较低时其值会下降。但我们未发现温度与资源质量对环境容纳量存在交互效应。本研究结果为近期针对温度影响环境容纳量的理论修正提供了支持，同时有助于深化我们对气候变化下种群动态变化规律的认知。