Stamps J A, Andrews R M
Department of Zoology, University of California Davis, 95616, Davis, CA, USA.
Department of Biology, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 24061, Blacksburg, VA, USA.
Oecologia. 1992 Dec;92(4):503-512. doi: 10.1007/BF00317842.
Estimates of asymptotic size are especially useful for comparative studies of taxonomic groups in which animals mature at small sizes relative to their final asymptotic sizes. The largest individuals per sample can provide reasonable estimates of asymptotic size if three conditions are met: 1) at least some adults in a population are near their final asymptotic size, 2) samples of a reasonable size are likely to contain a 'largest individual' that is near the average asymptotic size for the members of its sex, and 3) the coefficient of variation in asymptotic size is small for the members of each sex. In the current study, we show that all three of these conditions are met for one species of Anolis lizards (A. limifrons). For a series of samples from the genus Anolis, the largest individual per sample produces estimates of asymptotic size that are virtually identical to those produced by fitting field data on growth rates to nonlinear growth equations. These results suggest that the largest individual method can provide reasonable estimates of asymptotic size for the members of this genus, and imply that this method may also be useful for estimating asymptotic sizes in other taxa that satisfy the criteria listed above.
对于那些相对于最终渐近体型而言在较小体型时就达到成熟的动物分类群，渐近体型的估计对于比较研究尤为有用。如果满足三个条件，每个样本中的最大个体就能提供渐近体型的合理估计：1）种群中至少有一些成年个体接近其最终渐近体型；2）合理规模的样本可能包含一个接近其性别成员平均渐近体型的“最大个体”；3）每个性别的成员在渐近体型上的变异系数较小。在当前研究中，我们表明绿安乐蜥属的一种蜥蜴（A. limifrons）满足所有这三个条件。对于来自安乐蜥属的一系列样本，每个样本中的最大个体所产生的渐近体型估计值与通过将野外生长速率数据拟合到非线性生长方程所产生的估计值几乎相同。这些结果表明，最大个体法可以为该属的成员提供渐近体型的合理估计，并意味着该方法对于估计满足上述标准的其他分类群的渐近体型可能也有用。
