Revisiting the Energetic Efficiency Hypothesis: Body Mass, Metabolism, and Food Chain Length

2017 ◽  
Vol 177 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wayne Rossiter ◽  
Gabrielle King ◽  
Brian Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Chain Length ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Energetic Efficiency ◽  
Food Chain Length ◽  
Efficiency Hypothesis

Primary Consumer Body Size and Food-Chain Length in Terrestrial Communities

2009 ◽  
Vol 55 (4) ◽  
pp. 329-343 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoram Ayal ◽  
Elli Groner
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Chain Length ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Energetic Efficiency ◽  
Food Chains ◽  
Food Chain Length ◽  
Primary Consumer ◽  
Size Limitation ◽  
Energy Limitation ◽  
Primary Consumers

Using 21 community food webs, we tested Elton's two hypotheses regarding the main factors limiting food-chain length in terrestrial communities, namely, energy (energy limitation hypothesis—ELH) and body size (size limitation hypothesis—SLH). As predators tend to be larger than their prey, food-chains are size-structured: animal size increases with trophic position. We found a negative correlation between the size of the primary consumer and the length of the chain. Food-chains based on small primary consumers are longer than those based on large primary consumers, and size rather than energetic efficiency is the main contributing factor. We found no correlation between habitat productivity and mean food-chain length. All these findings support the SLH over the ELH. Our results suggest that, as in aquatic communities, a single factor—a predator/prey size-ratio greater than 1—governs the structure of terrestrial communities.

Refuge increases food chain length: modeled impacts of littoral structure in lake food webs

Oikos ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 126 (9) ◽  
pp. 1347-1356 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jacob P. Ziegler ◽  
Irene Gregory-Eaves ◽  
Christopher T. Solomon
Keyword(s):  
Food Webs ◽  
Chain Length ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Food Chain Length

scholarly journals Productivity, Disturbance and Ecosystem Size Have No Influence on Food Chain Length in Seasonally Connected Rivers

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. e66240 ◽  
Author(s):  
Danielle M. Warfe ◽  
Timothy D. Jardine ◽  
Neil E. Pettit ◽  
Stephen K. Hamilton ◽  
Bradley J. Pusey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chain Length ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Ecosystem Size ◽  
Food Chain Length

scholarly journals Flow regulation increases food‐chain length through omnivory mechanisms in a Mediterranean river network

2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (9) ◽  
pp. 1536-1549 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albert Ruhí ◽  
Isabel Muñoz ◽  
Elisabet Tornés ◽  
Ramon J. Batalla ◽  
Damià Vericat ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Chain Length ◽  
Food Chain ◽  
Flow Regulation ◽  
River Network ◽  
Mediterranean River ◽  
Food Chain Length
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