Thermal-Summation Model
Definition
The linear model that relates insect development rate to temperature above a threshold. Development rate increases in proportion to the excess temperature; the inverse of the rate gives the time to complete a stage at a given constant temperature.
Related terms
- Accumulated Degree Days (ADD)
- The sum of daily mean temperatures above a threshold (usually 0 °C) over a period of interest. Used as a measure of...
- Accumulated Degree Hours (ADH)
- A temperature-corrected measure of developmental time. Calculated by summing (hourly ambient temperature minus the species-specific base temperature threshold) across the period of...
- Base (Lower Developmental) Threshold
- The temperature below which an insect species does not develop. For forensically important blow flies in temperate regions this typically ranges from...
- Scene Correction Factor
- A temperature offset derived by comparing data-logger readings at the scene with concurrent weather-station readings, then applied retrospectively to station historical data...
- Upper Developmental Threshold
- The temperature above which development decelerates. Between base and upper threshold the thermal-summation model is approximately linear; outside this range it breaks...
Explained in
- Temperature, Accumulated Degree Days and Degree HoursThe linear model that relates insect development rate to temperature above a threshold. Development rate increases in proportion to the excess temperature; the...