Metabolic scope in the Mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis, as an indicator of climate change impacts

Abstract

An organism’s fitness and response to environmental conditions is often tied to its metabolic scope, which can be measured as oxygen consumption. We studied how temperature changes are affecting the metabolic scope of mosquitofish, using measurements of maximum metabolic rate, standard metabolic rate, and aerobic scope. From our data, we have found that the metabolic rates at 23°C are higher than those at 13°C. We have limited results because of design flaws in our respiratory system setup. This will be further investigated once we are able to return to the lab.