How does starvation affect carbon dioxide output in crickets?

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The cricket lab experiment measured carbon dioxide output in three groups of crickets: fully fed, starved for 48 hours, and starved for 96 hours, yielding results of 19, 22, and 7.5 μl/min, respectively. Initial observations suggest that metabolic rates decrease with starvation, but the lack of a clear trend complicates conclusions. Statistical analysis indicates that the difference between the fed and 96-hour starved crickets is significant, while the difference between fed and 48-hour starved crickets is not. The discussion highlights the need for more data points to determine whether starvation impacts CO2 output or if other metabolic switches are occurring. Overall, further replication and analysis are essential for drawing definitive conclusions.
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I performed a cricket lab on three groups of crickets: fully fed, starved for 48 hrs, starved for 96 hours to see how these conditions would affect their carbon dioxide ouput..
The results attained were: 19 (Fed), 22 (48 hrs) and 17.5 (96 hrs) <--measured in μl/min of carbon dioxide
the problem with this data is that I am not sure where to start since there is no clear trend
this is what i have so far:
-19 would be the relatively normal CO2 ouput
-metabolic rate decreases when the crickets are starved
-metabolic rate affects carbon dioxide output(?) - but how and why?? :confused:

thanks for your help :smile:
 
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I know nothing about cricket biology, but in humans we have several types of metabolics depending on the source of energy. Fats in humans start to be used as a primary energy source approximately 24 hours (wild guess) after the last meal. You could argue that you are observing such switch points.
 
Unfortunately, with only 3 time points that don't show a clear trend, there isn't much you can conclude, because there are two possible interpretations (assuming 22 is even significantly different from 19...have you done any statistical analysis of the results?):

1) There is a time effect, like Monique suggested, that you get an initial decrease, then a switch in metabolism with a subsequent increase.

2) There is no effect of starvation on CO2 output.

Replication of the trend along with additional intermediate time points would be necessary before you could draw either conclusion.
 
oops!
i checked my results again and the third mean value was found to be 7.5 not 17.5!

the fed vs. 48 hrs is non-significant and the fed vs. 96hrs is significant..
 
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