How does starvation affect carbon dioxide output in crickets?

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The discussion centers on a cricket lab experiment measuring carbon dioxide output under different feeding conditions: fully fed, starved for 48 hours, and starved for 96 hours. The results indicated CO2 outputs of 19 μl/min (fed), 22 μl/min (48 hours), and 7.5 μl/min (96 hours). The data suggests that metabolic rates decrease with starvation, but the lack of a clear trend and limited time points complicates conclusions. Statistical analysis is necessary to determine the significance of the differences observed.

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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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