Self-similarity and scaling in forest communities.
Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Simini F
PROVIDER: S-EPMC2867897 | biostudies-other | 2010 Apr
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-other
Publications
Self-similarity and scaling in forest communities.
Simini Filippo F Anfodillo Tommaso T Carrer Marco M Banavar Jayanth R JR Maritan Amos A
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20100407 17
Ecological communities exhibit pervasive patterns and interrelationships between size, abundance, and the availability of resources. We use scaling ideas to develop a unified, model-independent framework for understanding the distribution of tree sizes, their energy use, and spatial distribution in tropical forests. We demonstrate that the scaling of the tree crown at the individual level drives the forest structure when resources are fully used. Our predictions match perfectly with the scaling ...[more]
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