Schmid P E, Tokeshi M, Schmid-Araya J M
School of Biological Sciences, Queen Mary & Westfield College, University of London, London E1 4NS, UK.
Science. 2000 Sep 1;289(5484):1557-60. doi: 10.1126/science.289.5484.1557.
The existence of a general relation between population density and body size in animal assemblages has been debated because of known biases and ambiguities in the published data and data handling. Using new comprehensive data sets from two geographically separated stream communities that encompass 448 and 260 invertebrate taxa with a wide range of body sizes, we show that an inverse proportionality between density and body size is a consistent feature in these communities. The scaling across taxa is not statistically different between the two systems, indicating a convergent pattern of communities. Variation in the regression slope among different taxonomic groups indicates that these communities are not governed universally by a single ecological or energetic rule.
由于已发表数据及数据处理中存在已知偏差和模糊性，动物群落中种群密度与体型之间是否存在普遍关系一直存在争议。我们使用来自两个地理上分离的溪流群落的新综合数据集，这些数据集包含448个和260个无脊椎动物分类群，体型范围广泛，结果表明密度与体型之间的反比例关系是这些群落的一个一致特征。两个系统之间不同分类群的标度在统计上没有差异，表明群落具有趋同模式。不同分类群之间回归斜率的变化表明，这些群落并非普遍受单一生态或能量规则支配。
