Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 14-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Scaling the depths: below‐ground allocation in plants, forests and biomes

Scaling the depths: below‐ground allocation in plants, forests and biomes West, Brown & Enquist's (1997, 1999 ) allometric scaling theory (hereafter, WBE) is based on a biophysical model of resource transport in branched networks in an ‘ideal’ organism. WBE derives equations that predict how biological attributes ( B , e.g. metabolic rate, rates of resource use, even morphological features) scale with body mass ( M ), i.e. B ∝ M α , where α is a scaling exponent. Many such exponents are predicted by WBE to be simple multiples of 1 / 4 . These predictions have largely been confirmed by statistical comparisons with extensive data sets. WBE is explanatory in the sense of ‘makes comprehensible’ as well as ‘accounts for most of the variation in the data’. This is remarkable, given the huge morphological and physiological diversity that exists among organisms. WBE deliberately ignores specific details and concentrates on general principles. It is clearly not intended to explain the detailed form or function of particular species. Just as the Gas Laws of classical physics account for the average behaviour of large populations of ‘ideal’ molecules but not of individual molecules, WBE deals with the gross patterns seen when many taxa, habitats or body sizes are compared. Choose http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Functional Ecology Wiley

Scaling the depths: below‐ground allocation in plants, forests and biomes

Functional Ecology , Volume 18 (2) – Apr 1, 2004

Loading next page...
 
/lp/wiley/scaling-the-depths-below-ground-allocation-in-plants-forests-and-H5wALleme0

References (40)

Publisher
Wiley
Copyright
Copyright © 2004 Wiley Subscription Services, Inc., A Wiley Company
ISSN
0269-8463
eISSN
1365-2435
DOI
10.1111/j.0269-8463.2004.00849.x
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

West, Brown & Enquist's (1997, 1999 ) allometric scaling theory (hereafter, WBE) is based on a biophysical model of resource transport in branched networks in an ‘ideal’ organism. WBE derives equations that predict how biological attributes ( B , e.g. metabolic rate, rates of resource use, even morphological features) scale with body mass ( M ), i.e. B ∝ M α , where α is a scaling exponent. Many such exponents are predicted by WBE to be simple multiples of 1 / 4 . These predictions have largely been confirmed by statistical comparisons with extensive data sets. WBE is explanatory in the sense of ‘makes comprehensible’ as well as ‘accounts for most of the variation in the data’. This is remarkable, given the huge morphological and physiological diversity that exists among organisms. WBE deliberately ignores specific details and concentrates on general principles. It is clearly not intended to explain the detailed form or function of particular species. Just as the Gas Laws of classical physics account for the average behaviour of large populations of ‘ideal’ molecules but not of individual molecules, WBE deals with the gross patterns seen when many taxa, habitats or body sizes are compared. Choose

Journal

Functional EcologyWiley

Published: Apr 1, 2004

There are no references for this article.