scholarly journals Quantitative aspects of metabolic organization: a discussion of concepts

2001 ◽  
Vol 356 (1407) ◽  
pp. 331-349 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.A.L.M Kooijman
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Empirical Models ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Biological Organization ◽  
Dynamic Energy Budget ◽  
Scaling Relationships ◽  
Physical Chemical ◽  
Special Cases ◽  
Subcellular Processes ◽  
Metabolic Organization

Metabolic organization of individual organisms follows simple quantitative rules that can be understood from basic physical chemical principles. Dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory identifies these rules, which quantify how individuals acquire and use energy and nutrients. The theory provides constraints on the metabolic organization of subcellular processes. Together with rules for interaction between individuals, it also provides a basis to understand population and ecosystem dynamics. The theory, therefore, links various levels of biological organization. It applies to all species of organisms and offers explanations for body–size scaling relationships of natural history parameters that are otherwise difficult to understand. A considerable number of popular empirical models turn out to be special cases of the DEB model, or very close numerical approximations. Strong and weak homeostasis and the partitionability of reserve kinetics are cornerstones of the theory and essential for understanding the evolution of metabolic organization.

scholarly journals Temperature tolerance and energetics: a dynamic energy budget-based comparison of North Atlantic marine species

2010 ◽  
Vol 365 (1557) ◽  
pp. 3553-3565 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vânia Freitas ◽  
Joana F. M. F. Cardoso ◽  
Konstadia Lika ◽  
Myron A. Peck ◽  
Joana Campos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Energy Budget ◽  
North Atlantic ◽  
Marine Species ◽  
Temperature Tolerance ◽  
Life History Strategies ◽  
Dynamic Energy Budget ◽  
Scaling Relationships ◽  
Size Scaling ◽  
Pseudo Data

Temperature tolerance and sensitivity were examined for some North Atlantic marine species and linked to their energetics in terms of species-specific parameters described by dynamic energy budget (DEB) theory. There was a general lack of basic information on temperature tolerance and sensitivity for many species. Available data indicated that the ranges in tolerable temperatures were positively related to optimal growth temperatures. However, no clear relationships with temperature sensitivity were established and no clear differences between pelagic and demersal species were observed. The analysis was complicated by the fact that for pelagic species, experimental data were completely absent and even for well-studied species, information was incomplete and sometimes contradictory. Nevertheless, differences in life-history strategies were clearly reflected in parameter differences between related species. Two approaches were used in the estimation of DEB parameters: one based on the assumption that reserve hardly contributes to physical volume; the other does not make this assumption, but relies on body-size scaling relationships, using parameter values of a generalized animal as pseudo-data. Temperature tolerance and sensitivity seemed to be linked with the energetics of a species. In terms of growth, relatively high temperature optima, sensitivity and/or tolerance were related to lower relative assimilation rates as well as lower maintenance costs. Making the step from limited observations to underlying mechanisms is complicated and extrapolations should be carefully interpreted. Special attention should be devoted to the estimation of parameters using body-size scaling relationships predicted by the DEB theory.

An association between ear and tail morphologies of bats and their foraging style

2011 ◽  
Vol 89 (2) ◽  
pp. 90-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Gardiner ◽  
Jonathan R. Codd ◽  
Robert L. Nudds
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Foraging Strategy ◽  
Aerodynamic Performance ◽  
Variance Analysis ◽  
Flight Performance ◽  
Wing Membrane ◽  
Trade Off ◽  
Scaling Relationships ◽  
Membrane Morphology ◽  
Foraging Flight

Most studies relating bat morphology to flight ecology have concentrated on the wing membrane. Here, canonical variance analysis showed that the ear and tail morphologies of bats also strongly relate to foraging strategy, which in turn is correlated with flight style. Variations in tail membrane morphology are likely to be a trade-off between increases in the mechanical cost of flight and improvements in foraging and flight performance. Flying with large ears is also potentially energetically expensive, particularly at high flight speeds. Large ears, therefore, are only likely to be affordable for slow foraging gleaning bat species. Bats with faster foraging flight styles tend to have smaller ears, possibly to cut the overall drag produced and reduce the power required for flight. Variations in the size of ears and tail membranes appear to be driven primarily by foraging strategy and not by body size, because the scaling relationships found are either weak or not significant. Ear size in bats may be a result of a trade-off between acoustic and aerodynamic performance.

Clutch Mass, Offspring Mass, and Clutch Size: Body Mass Scaling and Taxonomic and Environmental Variation

2018 ◽  
pp. 68-97
Author(s):  
Douglas S. Glazier
Keyword(s):  
Life History ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Clutch Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Life History Evolution ◽  
Offspring Size ◽  
Egg Mass ◽  
Mass Scaling ◽  
Scaling Relationships ◽  
Clutch Mass

In this chapter, I show how clutch mass, offspring (egg) mass, and clutch size relate to body mass among species of branchiopod, maxillipod, and malacostracan crustaceans, as well as how these important life history traits vary among major taxa and environments independently of body size. Clutch mass relates strongly and nearly isometrically to body mass, probably because of physical volumetric constraints. By contrast, egg mass and clutch size relate more weakly and curvilinearly to body mass and vary in inverse proportion to one another, thus indicating a fundamental trade-off, which occurs within many crustacean taxa as well. In general, offspring (egg) size and number and their relationships to body mass appear to be more ecologically sensitive and evolutionarily malleable than clutch mass. The body mass scaling relationships of egg mass and clutch size show much more taxonomic and ecological variation (log-log scaling slopes varying from near 0 to almost 1 among major taxa) than do those for clutch mass, a pattern also observed in other animal taxa. The curvilinear body mass scaling relationships of egg mass and number also suggest a significant, size-related shift in how natural selection affects offspring versus maternal fitness. As body size increases, selection apparently predominantly favors increases in offspring size and fitness up to an asymptote, beyond which increases in offspring number and thus maternal fitness are preferentially favored. Crustaceans not only offer excellent opportunities for furthering our general understanding of life history evolution, but also their ecological and economic importance warrants further study of the various factors affecting their reproductive success.

scholarly journals Correlated evolution of neck length and leg length in birds

2019 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 181588 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Böhmer ◽  
Olivia Plateau ◽  
Raphäel Cornette ◽  
Anick Abourachid
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Vertebral Column ◽  
High Variability ◽  
Large Species ◽  
Leg Length ◽  
Neck Length ◽  
Correlated Evolution ◽  
Scaling Relationships ◽  
Extant Species ◽  
Total Leg

Despite a diversity of about 10 000 extant species, the sophisticated avian ‘body plan’ has not much changed once it was achieved around 160 Ma after the origin of powered flight. All birds are bipedal having wings, a rigid trunk, a short and ossified tail, a three-segmented leg and digitigrade feet. The avian neck, however, has always been regarded as a classic example of high variability ranging from short necks in songbirds to extremely long, serpentine necks in herons. Yet, the wide array of small to very large species makes it difficult to evaluate the actual neck length. Here, we investigate the evolution of the vertebral formulae in the neck of birds and the scaling relationships between skeletal dimensions and body size. Cervical count in birds is strongly related to phylogeny, with only some specialists having an exceptional number of vertebrae in the neck. In contrast with mammals, the length of the cervical vertebral column increases as body size increases and, thus, body size does not constrain neck length in birds. Indeed, neck length scales isometrically with total leg length suggesting a correlated evolution between both modules. The strong integration between the cervical and pelvic module in birds is in contrast with the decoupling of the fore- and hindlimb module and may be the result of the loss of a functionally versatile forelimb due to the evolution of powered flight.

scholarly journals Secondary production as a tool for better understanding of aquatic ecosystems

2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (7) ◽  
pp. 1230-1253 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Dolbeth ◽  
M. Cusson ◽  
R. Sousa ◽  
M.A. Pardal
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Production ◽  
Aquatic Ecosystems ◽  
Trophic Ecology ◽  
Aquatic Ecology ◽  
Empirical Models ◽  
Ecosystem Dynamics ◽  
Ecological Change ◽  
Production Studies ◽  
Dynamics And Function ◽  
And Function

A major challenge for ecologists is understanding ecosystem dynamics and function under environmental and anthropogenic stresses. An approach for addressing this challenge is the analysis of the different components contributing to secondary production (i.e., consumer incorporation of organic matter or energy per time unit) and how this production is influenced by external factors. Production studies have been recognized as a powerful tool in aquatic ecology, with applications in energy–biomass flow studies, trophic ecology, management of biological resources, as well as assessment of environmental stress. In this paper, we summarize ideas and techniques related to the estimation of secondary production and discuss how this approach may be used to evaluate ecological change in aquatic ecosystems. We include a critical review of classical methods and empirical models to estimate secondary production and provide several applications of production studies to current stresses affecting aquatic ecosystems, such as climate change, pollution, and the introduction of non-indigenous invasive species. Our goal is to illustrate the advantages of using secondary production as a more integrative tool for the assessment of the ecosystem function, in particular when subjected to strong anthropogenic and climatic stress.

Intraspecific Scaling Relationships Between Crawling Speed and Body Size in a Gastropod

2016 ◽  
Vol 230 (1) ◽  
pp. 78-84 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather M. Hemmert ◽  
Michael J. Baltzley
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Scaling Relationships

scholarly journals Taxonomic scale dependency of Bergmann's patterns: A cross-scale comparison of hawkmoths and birds along a tropical elevational gradient

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mansi Mungee ◽  
Ramana Athreya ◽  
Rohan Pandit
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Large Data ◽  
Elevational Gradient ◽  
Scale Dependency ◽  
Biological Organization ◽  
Intraspecific Trait Variation ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Single Location ◽  
Species Abundances ◽  
Patterns And Processes

Bergmann's rule predicts a larger body size for endothermic organisms in colder environments. The multiplicity of patterns and processes is expected because body size and temperature are two most fundamental factors on which many physiological, ecological and evolutionary processes depend, affecting all levels of biological organization, from individuals to communities. The confounding results from previous studies may be due to the differences in taxonomic (intraspecific, interspecific and community) and spatial (latitudinal vs elevational) scales. We compared Bergmann's patterns for endotherms (Aves) and ectotherms (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) along a same 2.6 km elevational transect in the eastern Himalayas. Using a large data spanning 3,302 hawkmoths (76 morpho-species) and 15,746 birds (245 species), we compared the patterns at the intraspecific (hawkmoths only), interspecific and community scales. At the interspecific scale, we account for phylogenetic non-independence in body mass by using a heirarchical linear mixed effects model for hawkmoths, and a phylogenetic generalised least squares model for birds. We assess the importance of using abundance-weighted metrics at the community scales, after accounting for spatial auto-correlation in communities. Hawkmoths exhibited positive Bergmann's pattern at the intraspecific and abundance-weighted community scale. Intraspecific variation accounted for a substantial 33% variation at the community level. Contrary to this, birds exhibited a strong converse-Bergmann's pattern at interspecific and community scales, both with- and without-abundance. Overall, all metrics which incorporate local traits and/or species abundances show stronger correlations than when this information is lacking. The multiplicity of patterns at a single location provides the opportunity to disentangle the relative contribution of individual- and species-level processes by integrating data across multiple nested taxonomic scales for the same taxa. We suggest that future studies of Bergmann's patterns should explicitly address taxonomic- and spatial-scale dependency, with species relative abundance and intraspecific trait variation as essential ingredients especially at short elevational scales.

Distribution and relative proportions of red muscle in scombrid fishes: consequences of body size and relationships to locomotion and endothermy

1983 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 2087-2096 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. B. Graham ◽  
F. J. Koehrn ◽  
K. A. Dickson
Keyword(s):  
Body Weight ◽  
Body Size ◽  
White Muscle ◽  
The Body ◽  
Thunnus Albacares ◽  
Katsuwonus Pelamis ◽  
Scaling Relationships ◽  
Red Muscle ◽  
Scombrid Fish ◽  
Scombrid Fishes

The scaling of red muscle with body weight and the distribution of red muscle within the body were compared in seven scombrid fish species to determine relationships between red muscle function and the maintenance of endothermy by tunas. In ectothermic Sarda chiliensis and Scomber japonicus, red muscle occurs along the body edge, is concentrated posteriorly, and the total amount of this tissue is proportional to body weight raised to a power significantly greater than 1.0. In five endothermic tunas, Auxis thazard, Euthynnus lineatus, Katsuwonus pelamis, Thunnus albacares, and T. alalunga, red muscle scaling coefficients are 1.0 or less, and red muscle is positioned deep and anterior in the body. The power needed to overcome drag increases with fish body size (weight and length) and velocity and is reflected in the red muscle scaling relationships of both Sarda and Scomber. By contrast, decreasing relative amounts of red muscle in larger tunas suggest these fishes increase propulsion efficiency as they grow. This may be a result of either or both greater muscle efficiency and reduced division of labor between red and white muscle to which both endothermy and thermoregulation could contribute.

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