spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
 QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online April 26, 2005
Journal of Experimental Biology 208, 1575-1592 (2005)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2005
doi: 10.1242/jeb.01589
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in JEB
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by West, G. B.
Right arrow Articles by Brown, J. H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by West, G. B.
Right arrow Articles by Brown, J. H.
Social Bookmarking
 Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Review article: Basal metabolic rate and cellular energetics

The origin of allometric scaling laws in biology from genomes to ecosystems: towards a quantitative unifying theory of biological structure and organization

Geoffrey B. West1,2,* and James H. Brown1,3

1 The Santa Fe Institute, 1399 Hyde Park Road, Santa Fe, NM 87501, USA
2 Los Alamos National Laboratory, Los Alamos, NM 87545, USA
3 Department of Biology, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM 87131, USA

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: gbw{at}santafe.edu)

Accepted 14 March 2005

Summary

Life is the most complex physical phenomenon in the Universe, manifesting an extraordinary diversity of form and function over an enormous scale from the largest animals and plants to the smallest microbes and subcellular units. Despite this many of its most fundamental and complex phenomena scale with size in a surprisingly simple fashion. For example, metabolic rate scales as the 3/4-power of mass over 27 orders of magnitude, from molecular and intracellular levels up to the largest organisms. Similarly, time-scales (such as lifespans and growth rates) and sizes (such as bacterial genome lengths, tree heights and mitochondrial densities) scale with exponents that are typically simple powers of 1/4. The universality and simplicity of these relationships suggest that fundamental universal principles underly much of the coarse-grained generic structure and organisation of living systems. We have proposed a set of principles based on the observation that almost all life is sustained by hierarchical branching networks, which we assume have invariant terminal units, are space-filling and are optimised by the process of natural selection. We show how these general constraints explain quarter power scaling and lead to a quantitative, predictive theory that captures many of the essential features of diverse biological systems. Examples considered include animal circulatory systems, plant vascular systems, growth, mitochondrial densities, and the concept of a universal molecular clock. Temperature considerations, dimensionality and the role of invariants are discussed. Criticisms and controversies associated with this approach are also addressed.

Key words: allometry, quarter-power scaling, laws of life, circulatory system, ontogenetic growth


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in JEB:

SIZE MATTERS
Yfke van Bergen and Kathryn Phillips
JEB 2005 208: i. [Full Text]  



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
B. Jamtveit, E. Jettestuen, and J. Mathiesen
Scaling properties of European research units
PNAS, August 11, 2009; 106(32): 13160 - 13163.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J ANIM SCIHome page
G. J. van Essen, J. C. M. Vernooij, J. A. P. Heesterbeek, D. Anjema, D. Merkus, and D. J. Duncker
Does cardiovascular performance of modern fattening pigs obey allometric scaling laws?
J Anim Sci, June 1, 2009; 87(6): 1991 - 1997.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
BloodHome page
I. Bains, R. Antia, R. Callard, and A. J. Yates
Quantifying the development of the peripheral naive CD4+ T-cell pool in humans
Blood, May 28, 2009; 113(22): 5480 - 5487.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Am. J. Bot.Home page
T. L. Koontz, A. Petroff, G. B. West, and J. H. Brown
Scaling relations for a functionally two-dimensional plant: Chamaesyce setiloba (Euphorbiaceae)
Am. J. Botany, May 1, 2009; 96(5): 877 - 884.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med SciHome page
G. B. West and A. Bergman
Toward a Systems Biology Framework for Understanding Aging and Health Span
J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci, February 17, 2009; (2009) gln066v1.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Exp. Biol.Home page
G. C. Packard and G. F. Birchard
Traditional allometric analysis fails to provide a valid predictive model for mammalian metabolic rates
J. Exp. Biol., November 15, 2008; 211(22): 3581 - 3587.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc R Soc BHome page
D. S Glazier
Effects of metabolic level on the body size scaling of metabolic rate in birds and mammals
Proc R Soc B, June 22, 2008; 275(1641): 1405 - 1410.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
J. E. Mendell, K. D. Clements, J. H. Choat, and E. R. Angert
From the Cover: Extreme polyploidy in a large bacterium
PNAS, May 6, 2008; 105(18): 6730 - 6734.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Appl. Physiol.Home page
J. S. Choy and G. S. Kassab
Scaling of myocardial mass to flow and morphometry of coronary arteries
J Appl Physiol, May 1, 2008; 104(5): 1281 - 1286.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
ICES J. Mar. Sci.Home page
H. Gislason, J. G. Pope, J. C. Rice, and N. Daan
Coexistence in North Sea fish communities: implications for growth and natural mortality
ICES J. Mar. Sci., May 1, 2008; 65(4): 514 - 530.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
CirculationHome page
F. E. Dewey, D. Rosenthal, D. J. Murphy Jr, V. F. Froelicher, and E. A. Ashley
Does Size Matter?: Clinical Applications of Scaling Cardiac Size and Function for Body Size
Circulation, April 29, 2008; 117(17): 2279 - 2287.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J PLANKTON RESHome page
E. Maranon
Inter-specific scaling of phytoplankton production and cell size in the field
J. Plankton Res., February 1, 2008; 30(2): 157 - 163.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Phil Trans R Soc BHome page
M. V Abrahams, M. Mangel, and K. Hedges
Predator-prey interactions and changing environments: who benefits?
Phil Trans R Soc B, November 29, 2007; 362(1487): 2095 - 2104.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Appl. Physiol.Home page
S. B. Heymsfield, D. Childers, J. Beetsch, D. B. Allison, and A. Pietrobelli
Body size and human energy requirements: reduced mass-specific resting energy expenditure in tall adults
J Appl Physiol, November 1, 2007; 103(5): 1543 - 1550.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc R Soc BHome page
M. J Hamilton, B. T Milne, R. S Walker, O. Burger, and J. H Brown
The complex structure of hunter-gatherer social networks
Proc R Soc B, September 7, 2007; 274(1622): 2195 - 2203.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J. Exp. Biol.Home page
A. J. Munn, T. J. Dawson, and S. K. Maloney
Ventilation patterns in red kangaroos (Macropus rufus Desmarest): juveniles work harder than adults at thermal extremes, but extract more oxygen per breath at thermoneutrality
J. Exp. Biol., August 1, 2007; 210(15): 2723 - 2729.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Am. J. Physiol. Regul. Integr. Comp. Physiol.Home page
D. N. Wheatley
Convergence of metabolic rate of cultured cells from animals of different sizes
Am J Physiol Regulatory Integrative Comp Physiol, June 1, 2007; 292(6): R2113 - R2114.
[Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
M. J. Hamilton, B. T. Milne, R. S. Walker, and J. H. Brown
Nonlinear scaling of space use in human hunter-gatherers
PNAS, March 13, 2007; 104(11): 4765 - 4769.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc R Soc BHome page
S. S Killen, I. Costa, J. A Brown, and A. K. Gamperl
Little left in the tank: metabolic scaling in marine teleosts and its implications for aerobic scope
Proc R Soc B, February 7, 2007; 274(1608): 431 - 438.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
JCOHome page
R. Demicheli, E. Biganzoli, P. Boracchi, M. Greco, W. J.M. Hrushesky, and M. W. Retsky
Allometric Scaling Law Questions the Traditional Mechanical Model for Axillary Lymph Node Involvement in Breast Cancer
J. Clin. Oncol., September 20, 2006; 24(27): 4391 - 4396.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J R Soc InterfaceHome page
J. F.V Vincent, O. A Bogatyreva, N. R Bogatyrev, A. Bowyer, and A.-K. Pahl
Biomimetics: its practice and theory
J R Soc Interface, August 22, 2006; 3(9): 471 - 482.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Phil Trans R Soc BHome page
S. Conway Morris
Darwin's dilemma: the realities of the Cambrian 'explosion'
Phil Trans R Soc B, June 29, 2006; 361(1470): 1069 - 1083.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USAHome page
A. Lopez-Urrutia, E. San Martin, R. P. Harris, and X. Irigoien
Scaling the metabolic balance of the oceans
PNAS, June 6, 2006; 103(23): 8739 - 8744.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
Journals of Gerontology Series A: Biological Sciences and Medical SciencesHome page
C. Ruggiero and L. Ferrucci
The endeavor of high maintenance homeostasis: resting metabolic rate and the legacy of longevity.
J. Gerontol. A Biol. Sci. Med. Sci., May 1, 2006; 61(5): 466 - 473.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Home page
J PLANKTON RESHome page
S. L. Nielsen
Size-dependent growth rates in eukaryotic and prokaryotic algae exemplified by green algae and cyanobacteria: comparisons between unicells and colonial growth forms
J. Plankton Res., May 1, 2006; 28(5): 489 - 498.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]




© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2005