I want to measure the metabolic rate and water loss in amphibians, usually frogs and salamanders, that have different life histories. And, I want to build a chamber that I can use for aquatic and terrestrial species or life stages. I want them to work for both because the idea is to take measurements in the field and the system itself is already large.
I am starting to work with physiology, so any advice for the chamber or how to measure metabolic rate is welcome. Thanks!
Hi Zuania,
Check out the following paper: Whitefield et al (2015), J Exp Biology, doi: 10.1242/jeb.121749:
https://jeb.biologists.org/content/218/11/1705.short
This is an example with birds rather than amphibians, but they measure a range of physiological parameters in the field using a mobile lab set up, so hopefully the methodology will provide some ideas. The authors have been using this approach for awhile and have worked out the pros and cons. I am sure they would be happy to talk with you if you reach out to them.
Good luck!
Hello Zuania,
In your case, I think it would be interesting to build a chamber that can measure respiration both in water and in air. You can check papers on mudskipper or crabs which studied bimodal respiration, you may find advices for chamber design.
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