West G B, Brown J H, Enquist B J
Theoretical Division, T-8, Mail Stop B285, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA.
Science. 1997 Apr 4;276(5309):122-6. doi: 10.1126/science.276.5309.122.
Allometric scaling relations, including the 3/4 power law for metabolic rates, are characteristic of all organisms and are here derived from a general model that describes how essential materials are transported through space-filling fractal networks of branching tubes. The model assumes that the energy dissipated is minimized and that the terminal tubes do not vary with body size. It provides a complete analysis of scaling relations for mammalian circulatory systems that are in agreement with data. More generally, the model predicts structural and functional properties of vertebrate cardiovascular and respiratory systems, plant vascular systems, insect tracheal tubes, and other distribution networks.
异速生长比例关系，包括代谢率的3/4幂律，是所有生物体的特征，这里是从一个通用模型推导出来的，该模型描述了基本物质如何通过分支管的空间填充分形网络进行传输。该模型假设能量耗散最小化，并且终端管不随身体大小而变化。它对哺乳动物循环系统的比例关系进行了完整分析，与数据相符。更普遍地说，该模型预测了脊椎动物心血管和呼吸系统、植物维管系统、昆虫气管以及其他分布网络的结构和功能特性。
