Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-xbtfd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T08:38:43.470Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

12 - Interplay between individual growth and population feedbacks shapes body-size distributions

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 December 2009

By
Lennart Persson  and
André M. De Roos
Edited by
Alan G. Hildrew ,
David G. Raffaelli  and
Ronni Edmonds-Brown
Lennart Persson
Affiliation:
Umeå University Sweden
André M. De Roos
Affiliation:
University of Amsterdam The Netherlands
Alan G. Hildrew
Affiliation:
Queen Mary University of London
David G. Raffaelli
Affiliation:
University of York
Ronni Edmonds-Brown
Affiliation:
University of Hertfordshire
Get access

Summary

Body size in contemporary ecology

Body size and variation in body size have formed the focus of many studies in ecology, ranging from the study of individual performance to large-scale communities and ecosystems (Werner & Gilliam, 1984, Gaston & Lawton, 1988, Werner, 1988, Cohen, Johnson & Carpenter, 2003, Brown et al., 2004, Loeuille & Loreau, 2005). This focus is well-founded given the large variation in body size that exists among organisms from micro-organisms to large mammals (Gaston & Lawton, 1988; Werner, 1988). Body size is also the most important trait that affects the performance of individuals. Basic ecological capacities such as foraging rate and metabolic requirements are close functions of body size (Peters, 1983; Kooijmann, 2000; Brown, et al., 2004) affecting, for example, competitive abilities of differently sized organisms (Wilson, 1975; Persson, 1985; Werner, 1994). Body size strongly influences the diet of consumers with mean prey size, but also the variation in the size of prey eaten, increasing with predator size (Wilson, 1975; Werner & Gilliam, 1984; Cohen et al., 2005; Woodward & Warren, this volume; Humphries, this volume). Furthermore, the risk for an organism being preyed upon is heavily influenced by its own body size as well as the body size of its potential predator (Polis, 1988; Werner, 1988; Claessen, De Roos & Persson, 2000).

Given its influence on basic individual ecological processes, body size has been an important variable in the investigation of larger ecological entities including communities, food webs and ecosystems.

Type
Chapter
Information
Body Size: The Structure and Function of Aquatic Ecosystems , pp. 225 - 244
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2007

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Brooks, J. L. & Dodson, S. I. (1965). Predation, body size and composition of plankton. Science, 150, 28–35.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Brown, J. H., Gillooly, J. F., Allen, A. P. Savage, V. M. & West, G. B. (2004). Towards a metabolic theory of growth. Ecology, 85, 1771–1789.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Byström, P., Persson, L. & Wahlström, E. (1998). Competition between predator and prey – competitive juvenile bottlenecks in whole lake experiments. Ecology, 79, 2153–2167.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calder, W. A. III. (1984). Size, Function and Life History. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.Google Scholar
Carscadden, J. E., Frank, K. T. & Leggett, W. C. (2001). Ecosystem changes and the effects on capelin (Mallotus villosus), a major forage species. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 58, 73–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Case, T. J. (1979). Optimal body size and an animal's diet. Acta Biotheoretica, 28, 54–69.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Chen, X. & Cohen, J. E. (2001). Transient dynamics and food-web complexity in the Lotka Volterra cascade model. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 268, 869–877.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Claessen, D. & Roos, A. M. (2003). Bistability in a size-structured population model of cannibalistic fish – a continuation study. Theoretical Population Biology, 64, 49–65.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Claessen, D., Roos, A. M. & Persson, L. (2000). Dwarfs and giants – cannibalism and competition in size-structured populations. American Naturalist, 155, 219–237.Google ScholarPubMed
Claessen, D., Oss, C., Roos, A. M. & Persson, L. (2002). The impact of size-dependent predation on population dynamics and individual life history. Ecology, 83, 1660–1675.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cohen, J. E. (1985). Metamorphosis: introduction, usages, and evolution. In Metamorphosis, ed. Bulls, M. and Brownes, M.. Oxford: Clarendon, pp. 1–19.Google Scholar
Cohen, J. E., Jonsson, T. & Carpenter, S. R. (2003). Ecological community description using the food web, species abundance, and body size. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA), 100, 1781–1786.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cohen, J. E., Jonsson, T., Müller, C. B., Godfray, H. C. J. & Savage, V. M. (2005). Body sizes of hosts and paraitoids in individual feeding relationships. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA), 102, 684–689.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Cryer, M., Peirson, G. & Townsend, C. R. (1986). Reciprocal interactions between roach, Rutilus rutilus, and zooplankton in a small lake: Prey dynamics and fish growth and recruitment. Limnology and Oceanography, 31, 1022–1038.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roos, A. M. & Persson, L. (2002). Size-dependent life-history traits promote catastrophic collapses of top predators. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA), 99, 12907–12912.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Roos, A. M. & Persson, L. (2005a). Unstructured population models: do general assumptions yield general theory? In Ecological Paradigms Lost: Routes to Theory Change, ed. Beissner, B. and Cuddington, K.. Amsterdam: Academic Press, pp. 31–62.Google Scholar
De Roos, A. M. & Persson, L. (2005b). The influence of individual growth and development on the structure of ecological communities. In Dynamic Food Webs – Multispecies Assemblages, Ecosystem Development and Environmental Change, ed. Ruiter, P. C., Wolters, V. and Moore, J. C.. Amsterdam: Academic Press, pp. 89–100.Google Scholar
Roos, A. M., Metz, J. A. J., Evers, E. & Leipoldt, A. (1990). A size dependent predator-prey interaction: who pursues whom? Journal of Mathematical Biology, 28, 609–643.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roos, A. M., Persson, L. & McCauley, E. (2003a). The influence of size-dependent life history traits on the structure and dynamics of populations and communities. Ecological Letters, 6, 473–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roos, A. M., Persson, L. & Thieme, H. (2003b). Emergent Allee effects in top predators feeding on structured prey populations. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London Series B, 270, 611–618.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebenman, B. (1992). Evolution in organisms that change their niches during the life-cycle. American Naturalist, 139, 990–1021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ebenman, B. & Persson, L. (1988). Dynamics of size-structured populations – an overview. In Size-Structured Populations – Ecology and Evolution, ed. Ebenman, B. & Persson, L.. Berlin: Springer, pp. 3–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Emmerson, M. & Raffaelli, D. (2004). Predator prey body size, interaction strength and the stability of a real food web. Journal of Animal Ecology, 63, 399–409.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gaston, K. J. & Lawton, J. H. (1988). Patterns in the abundance and distribution of insect populations. Nature, 331, 709–712.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hamrin, S. F. & Persson, L. (1986). Asymmetrical competition between age classes as a factor causing population oscillations in an obligate planktivorous fish. Oikos, 47, 223–232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Juanes, F. (2003). The allometry of cannibalism in piscivorous species. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 60, 594–602.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kerr, S. R. & Dickie, L. M. (2001). The Biomass Spectrum. A Predator-Prey Theory of Aquatic Production. New York: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Klemetsen, A., Amundsen, P. A., Grotnes, P. E.et al. (2002). Takvatn through 20 years: Long-term effects of an experimental mass removal of Arctic charr, Salvelinus Alpinus, from a subarctic lake. Environmental Biology of Fishes, 64, 1–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kooijman, S. A. L. M. (2000). Dynamic Energy and Mass Budgets in Biological Systems, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lasenby, D. C., Northcote, T. G. & Fürst, M. (1986). Theory, practice and effects of Mysis relicta introductions to North American and Scandinavian lakes. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 43, 1277–1284.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loeuille, N. & Loreau, M. (2005). Evolutionary emergence of size-structured food webs. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA), 102, 5761–5766.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lundberg, S. & Persson, L. (1993). Optimal body size and resource density. Journal of Theoretical Biology, 164, 163–180.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCauley, E., Nisbet, R. M., Murdoch, W. W., Roos, A. M. & Gurney, W. S. C. (1999). Large-amplitude cycles of Daphnia and its algal prey in enriched environments. Nature, 402, 653–656.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Metz, J. A. J. & Diekmann, O. (1986). The Dynamics of Physiologically Structured Populations. Springer lecture notes in biomathematics, Vol. 68. Heidelberg: Springer.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mittelbach, G. G. (1981). Foraging efficiency and body size: a study of optimal diet and habitat use by bluegills. Ecology, 62, 1370–1386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Murdoch, W. W., Kendall, B. E., Nisbet, R. M.et al. (2002). Single-species models for many-species food webs. Nature, 417, 541–543.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Persson, L. (1983). Food consumption and competition between age classes in a perch (Perca fluviatilis) population in a shallow eutrophic lake. Oikos, 40, 197–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, L. (1985). Asymmetrical competition: are larger animals competitively superior? American Naturalist, 126, 261–266.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, L. (1988). Asymmetries in competitive and predatory interactions in fish populations. In Size-Structured Populations – Ecology and Evolution, ed. Ebenman, B. and Persson, L.. Berlin: Springer, pp. 203–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Persson, L., Leonardsson, K., Gyllenberg, M., Roos, A. M. & Christensen, B. (1998). Ontogenetic scaling of foraging rates and the dynamics of a size-structured consumer-resource model. Theoretical Population Biology, 54, 270–293.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Persson, L., Roos, A. M., Claessen, D.et al. (2003). Gigantic cannibals driving a whole lake trophic cascade. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science (USA), 100, 4035–4039.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Peters, R. H. (1983). The Ecological Implications of Body Size. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polis, G. A. (1988). Exploitation competition and the evolution of interference, cannibalism, and intraguild predation in age/size-structured populations. In Size-Structured Populations – Ecology and Evolution, ed. Ebenman, B. and Persson, L.. Berlin: Springer, pp. 185–202.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polis, G. A., Myers, C. & Holt, R. (1989). The ecology and evolution of intraguild predation: potential competitors that eat each other. Annual Review in Ecology and Systematics, 20, 297–330.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ricklefs, R. E. (1973). Patterns of growth in birds. II. Growth rate and mode of development. Ibis, 115, 177–201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sanderson, B. L., Hrabik, T. R., Magnuson, J. J. & Post, D. D. (1999). Cyclic dynamics of a yellow perch (Perca flavescens) population in an oligotrophic lake: evidence for the role of intraspecfic interactions. Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences, 56, 1534–1542.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sauer, J. R. & Slade, N. A. (1987). Size-based demography of vertebrates. Annual Review in Ecology and Systematics, 18, 71–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sebens, K. P. (1982). The limits to indeterminate growth: an optimal model applied to passive suspension feeders. Ecology, 63, 209–222.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sebens, K. P. (1987). The ecology of indeterminate growth in animals. Annual Review in Ecology and Systematics, 18, 371–407.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shin, Y. J., Rochet, M., Jennings, S., Field, J. G. & Gislason, H. (2005). Using size-based indicators to evaluate ecosystem effects of fishing. ICES Journal of Marine Science, 62, 384–396.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shiomoto, A., Tadokoro, K., Nagasawa, K. & Ishida, Y. (1997). Trophic relations in the subArctic North Pacific ecosystem: possible feeding effect from pink salmon. Marine Ecology Progress Series, 150, 75–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sinko, J. W. & Streifer, W. (1967). A new model for age-size structure of a population. Ecology, 48, 910–918.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stead, T. K., Schmid-Arya, J. M., Schmid, P. E. & Hildrew, A. G. (2005). The distribution of body size in a stream community: one system, many patterns. Journal of Animal Ecology, 74, 475–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stearns, S. C. (1992). The Evolution of Life Histories. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Townsend, C. R., Sutherland, W. J. & Perrow, M. R. (1990). A modelling investigation of population cycles in the fish Rutilus rutilus. Journal of Animal Ecology, 59, 469–485.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van de Wolfshaar, K. E. (2006). Population persistence in the face of size-dependent predation and competition interactions. PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam.
Werner, E. E. (1986). Species interactions in freshwater fish communities. In Community Ecology, ed. Diamond, J. and Case, T. J.. New York: Harper & Row, pp. 344–358.Google Scholar
Werner, E. E. (1988). Size, scaling and the evolution of complex life cycles. In Size-Structured Populations – Ecology and Evolution, ed. Ebenman, B. and Persson, L.. Berlin: Springer, pp. 60–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werner, E. E. (1994). Ontogenetic scaling of competitive relations: size-dependent effects and responses in two Anuran larvae. Ecology, 75, 197–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Werner, E. E. & Gilliam, J. F. (1984). The ontogenetic niche and species interactions in size-structured populations. Annual Review in Ecology and Systematics, 15, 393–425.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, G. B., Brown, J. H. & Enquist, B. J. (1997). A general model for the origin of allometric scaling laws in biology. Science, 276, 122–126.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Wilbur, H. M. (1988). Interactions between growing predators and growing prey. In Size-Structured Populations – Ecology and Evolution, ed. Ebenman, B. and Persson, L.. Berlin: Springer, pp. 157–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, D. S. (1975). The adequacy of body size as a niche difference. American Naturalist, 109, 769–784.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woodward, G., Ebenman, B., Ernmerson, M.et al. (2005). Body size in ecological networks. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 20, 402–409.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yodzis, P. & Innes, S. (1992). Body size and consumer resource dynamics. American Naturalist, 139, 1151–1175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×