Re-examination of the “3/4-law” of Metabolism

Dodds, Peter Sheridan; Rothman, Daniel H.; Weitz, Joshua S.

doi:10.1006/jtbi.2000.2238

Cited by 514 publications

(517 citation statements)

References 55 publications

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“…The reduced major-axis gradients of the log-converted relationships between both DEE and RMR and body mass (0.686 and 0.665) were consistent with allometry as predicted by the surface law (0.67) and observed empirically in other data sets (Heusner 1991;Dodds et al 2001;White and Seymour 2003). The gradient relating MLSP to mass was the same as that derived previously using a smaller data set (Lindstedt and Calder 1976).…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Energetics and longevity in birds

Furness

Speakman

2008

AGE

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The links between energy expenditure and ageing are different at different levels of enquiry. When studies have examined the relationships between different species within a given class the association is generally negative-animals with greater metabolism per gram of tissue live shorter lives. Within species, or between classes (e.g. between birds and mammals) the association is the opposite-animals with higher metabolic rates live longer. We have previously shown in mammals that the negative association between lifespan and metabolic rate is in fact an artefact of using resting rather than daily energy expenditure, and of failing to adequately take into account the confounding effects of body size and the lack of phylogenetic independence of species data. When these factors are accounted for, across species of mammals, the ones with higher metabolism also have the largest lifetime expenditures of energy-consistent with the inter-class and intra-specific data. A previous analysis in birds did not yield the same pattern, but this may have been due to a lack of sufficient power in the analysis. Here we present an analysis of a much enlarged data set (>300 species) for metabolic and longevity traits in birds. These data show very similar patterns to those in mammals. Larger individuals have longer lives and lower per-gram resting and daily energy expenditures, hence there is a strong negative relationship between longevity and mass-specific metabolism. This relationship disappears when the confounding effects of body mass and phylogeny are accounted for. Across species of birds, lifetime expenditure of energy per gram of tissue based on both daily and resting energy expenditure is positively related to metabolic intensity, mirroring these statistical relationships in mammals and synergising with the positive associations of metabolism with lifespan within species and between vertebrate classes.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 87%

Energetics and longevity in birds

Furness

Speakman

2008

AGE

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“…Recent studies based on these theories have claimed that ecological systems are characterized by self-organized criticality and self-similarity, and exhibit scale invariant patterns over several to many orders of magnitude (e.g., Bak 1996, Jorgensen et al 1998, Sole et al 1999, Brown et al 2004). However, others have pointed out that some of these analyses were problematic because of misinterpreting ecological data or overreaching from the results (e.g., Raup 1997, Kirchner and Weil 1998, Dodds et al 2001, Plotnick and Sepkoski 2001, Cyr and Walker 2004. Studies of both biophysical and socioeconomic systems have shown much evidence that complex systems often exhibit both scale-dependent behaviors and characteristic scales (Clark 1985, Courtois 1985, Urban et al 1987, Delcourt and Delcourk 1988, Holling 1992.…”

Section: Characteristic Scalesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The recent resurgence of interest in biological allometry is epitomized by the development of a "metabolic theory of ecology" (Brown et al 2004), which attempts to use organismal allometry with a temperature correction to predict "ecological processes at all levels of organization fiom individuals to the biosphere." Such grand theory based on first principles in physics, chemistry, and biology, would be eminently useful in ecological scaling, but skepticism and sharp criticisms are rooted in the dearth of empirical support, mathematical limitations, diminishing rigor at organizational levels beyond whole organisms, and an inability to deal with heterogeneous structures and transient dynamics (Dodds et al 2001, Bokma 2004, Cyr and Walker 2004, Kozlowski and Konarzewski 2004. Can a pluralistic approach be an alternative?…”

Section: Towards a Pluralistic Scaling Paradigmmentioning

confidence: 99%

Scaling With Known Uncertainty: A Synthesis

Jones

et al. 2006

Scaling and Uncertainty Analysis in Ecology

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Scale is a fundamental concept in ecology and all sciences (Levin 1992, Wu and Loucks 1995, Barenblatt 1996, which has received increasing attention in recent years. The previous chapters have demonstrated an immerse diversity of scaling issues present in different areas of ecology, covering species distribution, population dynamics, ecosystem processes, and environmental assessment. Scale issues occur in every facet of ecological research, including study design, data collection, experimentation, statistical analysis, and modeling. The scales of observations and outcomes in the case studies range from plots, ecosystems, landscapes, to regions.Readers will surely ask then, what new synthesis can be achieved from these and other recent contributions to the literature on scale? We see several overarching themes evident in the theory, methods, and case studies presented here, not necessarily in every chapter, but from the body of work as a whole. The following themes are illustrative: novel ideas for integrating diverse scaling perspectives, distinctions among sources of uncertainty, advances in the quantification of scaling error, improved applications of scaling principles, improved recognition of the phenomenon of scale effects (especially for cross-scale material exchange of chemicals, gases, etc.), and advances in the use of scale-related understandings for public policy and decision-making.Taken together these themes can be understood and organized by thinking through three closely related scale issues: identifying characteristic scales, understanding scale effects, and developing methods for scaling and quantifying sources of error in relation to uncertainties. In this last chapter of the book, we attempt to build from the richness of the methods and case studies toward an integration of the entire volume. To do this we briefly recapitulate scale and scaling concepts, summarize how different kinds of scale issues are dealt with in the 329.

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“…(14) suggests either a constant biomass B ∝ M 0 (if α = 2/3, as is the case in birds, for example (Nagy, 1987;Dodds et al, 2001)) or a decrease of biomass at a rate of B ∝ M 1−(1/3+α) (if α > 2/3).…”

Section: Fluctuations Of Consumption Due To Locomotion Of Heterotrophsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Body size, energy consumption and allometric scaling: a new dimension in the diversity?stability debate

Makarieva

2004

Ecological Complexity

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A new theoretical approach is developed that links the allometry of energy partitioning among differently-sized organisms in ecological community to community stability. The magnitude of fluctuations of plant biomass introduced by plant-feeding heterotrophs is shown to grow rapidly with increasing body size. To keep these fluctuations at a low level compatible with ecosystem stability, the share of ecosystem primary productivity claimed by plant-feeding heterotrophs should decrease with increasing body size. In unstable environments the ecological restrictions on biotic fluctuations are lessened and net primary productivity can be distributed more evenly among differently sized organisms. Within the developed approach it is possible to quantitatively estimate not only the scaling exponents in the dependence of population density and biomass of heterotrophs on body size, but also the absolute values of energy fluxes claimed by organisms of a given size in stable communities. Theoretical predictions are tested against diverse sets of empirical data. It is shown that in stable ecological communities the largest heterotrophs are allowed to consume no more than several tenths of percent of net primary productivity.

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Re-examination of the “3/4-law” of Metabolism

Cited by 514 publications

References 55 publications

Energetics and longevity in birds

Energetics and longevity in birds

Scaling With Known Uncertainty: A Synthesis

Body size, energy consumption and allometric scaling: a new dimension in the diversity?stability debate

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