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Makarieva A.M., Gorshkov V.G., Li B.-L. (2003) A note on metabolic rate dependence on body size in plants and animals. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 221(2), 301-307. PDF (140 Kb). Copyright 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. Further reproduction or electronic distribution is not permitted.

Abstract (provided by the authors)

Allometric scaling laws have recently received much attention in ecology, especially the work done by West and collaborators by noting the transport of materials on the fractal-like networks within living bodies. Here we re-analyzed their work and found that their model and theory are biologically and physically not sound, and mathematically inconsistent, even under their own assumptions. We also showed that the empirical allometric patterns they presented to support their model could be alternatively explained by the two fundamental biological and physical principles (constancy of energy flux per unit surface area and the existence of minimal levels of the volume-specific metabolic rate for supporting life) that characterize the primary process of energy consumption by an organism from its external environment, without involving the knowledge about transport materials and optimization within a living body. In addition, we predicted and explained the exponential decrease of leaf area index with elevation, the change of animal body geometry and the breakpoint of the allometric scaling. Since the process of energy consumption by an organism from the external environment is a prerequisite for any other biological processes including the transport of matter in a living body, our approach should be more general and robust, and in particular, this approach is logically more coherent and connected when linkin g an individual organism to population, community, ecosystem and landscape patterns and processes.