BACKGROUND In the absence of stochasticity, allometric growth throughout ontogeny is axiomatically described by the logarithm-transformed power-law model, θt = log(a) b + kφ(t), where θt ≡ θ(t) and φt ≡ φ(t) are the logarithmic sizes of two traits at any given time t. Realistically, however, stochasticity is an inherent property of ontogenetic allometry. Due to the inherent stochasticity in bot...

Although it has been the subject of verbal theory since Darwin, the evolution of morphological trait allometries remains poorly understood, especially in the context of sexual selection. Here we present an allocation trade-off model that predicts the optimal pattern of allometry under different selective regimes. We derive a general solution that has a simple and intuitive interpretation and us...

BACKGROUND AND AIMS Previous work has shown that the entire photosynthetic light response curve, based on both Mitscherlich and Michaelis-Menten functions, could be predicted in an interspecific context through allometric relations linking the parameters of these functions to two static leaf traits: leaf nitrogen (N) content and leaf mass per area (LMA). This paper describes to what extent thes...

The demographic rates of most organisms are supported by the consumption of food energy, which is used to produce new biomass and fuel physiological processes. Unlike other species, modern humans use 'extra-metabolic' energy sources acquired independent of physiology, which also influence demographics. We ask whether the amount of extra-metabolic energy added to the energy budget affects demogr...

Benthic consumers profoundly impact nutrient regeneration in coastal marine ecosystems. The concurrent imbalance and warming of our seas will change the nutritional requirements metabolic demands these consumers, which may affect their ability to recycle nitrogen phosphorous. Here we explore whether excretion rates two benthic Baltic clam ( Macoma balthica ) invasive spionid polychaete Marenzel...

Although most physiological traits scale allometrically in unitary organisms, it has been hypothesized that modularity allows for isometric scaling in colonial modular taxa. Isometry would allow increases in size without functional constraints, and is thought to be of central importance to the success of a modular design. Yet, despite its potential importance, scaling in these organisms has rec...

Feeding adaptation, social behaviour, and interspecific interactions related to sexual dimorphism and allometric growth are particularly challenging to be investigated in the high sexual monomorphic Delphinidae. We used geometric morphometrics to extensively explore sexual dimorphism and ontogenetic allometry of different projections of the skull and the mandible of the bottlenose dolphin Tursi...

The science of morphological allometry centers around relationships between the size of organismal structures and overall body size. Morphological allometry usually is concerned with two parameters, the slope of log–log plots of trait parameters on body mass or size (reflecting how trait size varies with body size), and the intercept of such plots (providing measures of body-size–independent tr...

Although, beetles of the genus Tribolium first evolved as saprophylic insects, they have adapted to the stored products environment for several thousand years. In this study reproductive strategies are described for eight species of Tribolium that are known to occur in this environment. Experiments were conducted under the same conditions for every species, and several life history traits, incl...