相关生长关系与生态学研究中的尺度转换

Allometry and Its Application in Ecological Scaling

生态学研究常常涉及不同的尺度 ,而不同尺度之间生态属性的转换是生态学研究的一个难点 ,也是近年备受理论生态学界 ,尤其是植物生态学界重视的问题之一。相关生长理论及其应用的研究使一些生态属性的尺度转换成为可能。相关生长关系反映出生物身体大小对其身体结构、生理过程等属性的影响 ;而种群和群落甚至更大尺度上的许多生态特征都可以从有限的个体特征中表现出来。因此 ,人们有可能应用这些定量的相关生长关系 ,解决生态学研究中可能出现的无法直接测量或表征的不同尺度的问题。本文就相关生长理论模型进展及其在植物生态学中一些应用做一介绍。

Ecological research is often linked with ecological scales, and scalin g up or scaling down for ecological attributes at different levels of biological organization are one of the most critical but difficult issues. Allometric rela tions, however, are perhaps able to act as qualified nutcrackers. Allometric sca ling relations are characteristic of all organisms. Ecologists suggest that ther e are similar mechanisms behind the numerous quarter-power allometric relations , which reflect the growth rates of organisms constrained by the limits of availa ble resources and transportation capacity through organismal bodies. They believ e that many attributes in large ecological scales can emerge from a few allometr ic principles operating in the scale of individual, and so allometric scaling la ws may be among the most potential solutions to ecological scaling. Here the aut hors give a review on allometric theory and its recent applications in multi-scales of p lant ecology.