Energetic equivalence underpins the size structure of tree and phytoplankton communities.

ABSTRACT: The size structure of autotroph communities - the relative abundance of small vs. large individuals - shapes the functioning of ecosystems. Whether common mechanisms underpin the size structure of unicellular and multicellular autotrophs is, however, unknown. Using a global data compilation, we show that individual body masses in tree and phytoplankton communities follow power-law distributions and that the average exponents of these individual size distributions (ISD) differ. Phytoplankton communities are characterized by an average ISD exponent consistent with three-quarter-power scaling of metabolism with body mass and equivalence in energy use among mass classes. Tree communities deviate from this pattern in a manner consistent with equivalence in energy use among diameter size classes

SUBMITTER: Perkins DM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6335468 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature