Ecotoxicological Applications of Dynamic Energy Budget Theory

Abstract

The dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory for metabolic organisation specifies quantitatively the processes of uptake of substrate by organisms and its use for the purpose of maintenance, growth, maturation and reproduction. It ap- plies to all organisms. Animals are special because they typically feed on other organisms. This couples the uptake of the different required substrates, and their energetics can, therefore, be captured realistically with a single reserve and a single structure compartment in biomass. Effects of chemical compounds (e.g. toxicants) are included by linking parameter values to internal concentrations. This involves a toxico-kinetic module that is linked to the DEB, in terms of uptake, elimination and (metabolic) transformation of the compounds. The core of the kinetic module is the simple one-compartment model, but extensions and modifications are required to link it to DEBs.We discuss how these extensions relate to each other and how they can be organised in a coherent framework that dealswith effects of compoundswith varying concentrations and with mixtures of chemicals. For the one-compartment model and its extensions, as well as for the standard DEB model for individual or- ganisms, theory is available for the co-variation of parameter values among different applications, which facilitates model applications and extrapolations.