1. Dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory provides a model of the intrinsic energetic trade-offs that shape life histories, in terms of fluxes of energy through biological processes. In these models, life histories are a function of environmental conditions and of fundamental traits of the organism relating to the acquisition, allocation and use of energy.
2. These traits are described by the parameters of the DEB model, which are typically estimated from multiple data sources. DEB parameters have been estimated for over 2,500 species, and recent work has aimed to compare species on the basis of differences in parameter values. However, little is known about intraspecific variation in DEB parameters, and the reliability of comparisons between parameter sets is rarely tested.
3. We estimated DEB parameters for 16 populations of Trinidadian guppy. Our objectives were to determine whether DEB theory could characterise known life-history differences between populations, and to assess whether differences in parameter values between populations were reliable indicators of biological differences.
4. We found substantial intraspecific variation in parameter values. The models accurately reproduced biological processes, and also predicted differences in resource allocation and metabolic rate consistent with known life-history differences among these populations.
5. However, parameter estimates varied substantially as an artefact of the amount and types of data used to fit the models. This bias appeared to be systematic, influencing estimates for multiple populations in a comparable fashion. We show that similar patterns of growth and reproduction can be reproduced with very different parameter sets. Our results imply that comparisons of DEB parameters between models fit with different types of data may reflect artefactual rather than biological differences.

中文翻译：

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能量收支的实质性种内变化：生物学还是人工制品？

1. 动态能量收支 (DEB) 理论根据生物过程中的能量通量，提供了塑造生命历史的内在能量权衡模型。在这些模型中，生命史是环境条件和生物体与能量获取、分配和使用相关的基本特征的函数。
2. 这些特征由 DEB 模型的参数描述，这些参数通常是从多个数据源中估计出来的。已估计超过 2,500 个物种的 DEB 参数，最近的工作旨在根据参数值的差异比较物种。然而，对 DEB 参数的种内变异知之甚少，并且很少测试参数集之间比较的可靠性。
3. 我们估计了 16 个特立尼达孔雀鱼种群的 DEB 参数。我们的目标是确定 DEB 理论是否可以表征种群之间已知的生活史差异，并评估种群之间参数值的差异是否是生物学差异的可靠指标。
4. 我们发现参数值存在实质性的种内变化。这些模型准确地再现了生物过程，还预测了资源分配和代谢率的差异，这些差异与这些种群之间已知的生活史差异一致。
5. 然而，由于用于拟合模型的数据量和类型的人工制品，参数估计值差异很大。这种偏差似乎是系统性的，以可比的方式影响多个人群的估计。我们表明，可以使用非常不同的参数集重现类似的生长和繁殖模式。我们的结果意味着，适合不同类型数据的模型之间 DEB 参数的比较可能反映了人为差异而不是生物学差异。