The Population Biology Research Group, School of Biological Sciences, Nicholson Building, University of Liverpool, PO Box 147, Liverpool, UK L69 3BX.
Trends Ecol Evol. 1997 Jun;12(6):235-9. doi: 10.1016/s0169-5347(97)01058-6.
Environmental effects on body size are of widespread ecological and economic importance but our understanding of these effects has been obscured by an apparent paradox. Life history analysis suggests that it is adaptive for adults to emerge smaller if reared in conditions that slow down juvenile growth. However, whereas smaller adults emerge if growth is limited by food availability, the reverse is usually observed if growth is limited by temperature. The resolution of this apparent paradox may be that the response of adult size to temperature is adaptive, but is constrained by a trade-off that can be understood in terms of von Bertalanffy's classic theory of growth. Alternatively, the response may be the unavoidable consequence of a fundamental relationship between cell size and temperature.
环境对体型的影响具有广泛的生态和经济重要性，但由于一个明显的悖论，我们对这些影响的理解一直受到阻碍。生活史分析表明，如果在减缓幼年生长的条件下饲养，成年动物体型较小是适应性的。然而，虽然如果生长受到食物供应的限制，较小的成年动物会出现，但如果生长受到温度的限制，通常会观察到相反的情况。这个明显悖论的解决办法可能是，成年体型对温度的反应是适应性的，但受到一种权衡的限制，这种权衡可以根据 von Bertalanffy 的经典生长理论来理解。或者，这种反应可能是细胞大小和温度之间基本关系的不可避免的结果。
