Metaphoetesis

Metaphoetesis is an ecological term coined by G. E. Hutchinson,^[1] to denote a change in diet with a changing stage of the life cycle of an animal. This characteristic, exhibited by many species such as insects and fishes, is important in determining the length of a food chain, particularly in aquatic and amphibious environments. Smaller, i.e., younger specimens belong to foodchain links below the larger -older- specimens.^[2] The concept has been described by other authors using various terms such as "life history omnivory".^[3]

References

^ G. E. Hutchinson. 1959. Homage to Santa Rosalia or Why Are There So Many Kinds of Animals? The American Naturalist, Vol. 93, No. 870 (May - Jun., 1959), pp. 145-159
^ J. E. Cohen. 2007. Chapter XVI Body sizes in food chains of animal predators and parasites. pp. 306-325, in: Body Size: The Structure and Function of Aquatic Ecosystems, eds. Alan G. Hildrew, David G. Raffaelli and Ronni Edmonds-Brown. Published by Cambridge University Press. © British Ecological Society 2007.
^ Pimm, S.L.; Rice, J.C. (1987). "The dynamics of multispecies, multi-life-stage models of aquatic food webs". Theoretical population biology. 32 (3): 303–325. doi:10.1016/0040-5809(87)90052-9.

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[1] G. E. Hutchinson. 1959. Homage to Santa Rosalia or Why Are There So Many Kinds of Animals? The American Naturalist, Vol. 93, No. 870 (May - Jun., 1959), pp. 145-159

[2] J. E. Cohen. 2007. Chapter XVI Body sizes in food chains of animal predators and parasites. pp. 306-325, in: Body Size: The Structure and Function of Aquatic Ecosystems, eds. Alan G. Hildrew, David G. Raffaelli and Ronni Edmonds-Brown. Published by Cambridge University Press. © British Ecological Society 2007.

[3] Pimm, S.L.; Rice, J.C. (1987). "The dynamics of multispecies, multi-life-stage models of aquatic food webs". Theoretical population biology. 32 (3): 303–325. doi:10.1016/0040-5809(87)90052-9.

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