Get 20M+ Full-Text Papers For Less Than $1.50/day. Start a 7-Day Trial for You or Your Team.

Learn More →

Number of trophic levels in ecological communities

Number of trophic levels in ecological communities ECOLOGICAL food chains are typically short, consisting of not more than four or five trophic levels. This is usually explained by a reduction in the energy which is available to successive links in the food chain1,2. In contrast, we believe that the number of trophic levels is constrained by population dynamics and not by ecological energetics. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Nature Springer Journals

Number of trophic levels in ecological communities

PIMM, S. L.; LAWTON, J. H.
Nature , Volume 268 (5618) – Jul 28, 1977
Download PDF
3 pages

Loading next page...
 
/lp/springer-journals/number-of-trophic-levels-in-ecological-communities-zA09B4xK5q

References (19)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 1977 by Nature Publishing Group
Subject
Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary; Science, Humanities and Social Sciences, multidisciplinary; Science, multidisciplinary
ISSN
0028-0836
eISSN
1476-4687
DOI
10.1038/268329a0
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

ECOLOGICAL food chains are typically short, consisting of not more than four or five trophic levels. This is usually explained by a reduction in the energy which is available to successive links in the food chain1,2. In contrast, we believe that the number of trophic levels is constrained by population dynamics and not by ecological energetics.

Journal

Nature – Springer Journals

Published: Jul 28, 1977

There are no references for this article.