Linked Life Data

19033187

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/19033187

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
48
pubmed:dateCreated
2008-12-3
pubmed:abstractText
In ecology, there have been attempts to establish links between the relative species abundance (RSA), the fraction of species in a community with a given abundance, and a power-law form of the species area relationship (SAR), the dependence of species richness on sampling area. However the SAR and other patterns in ecology often do not exhibit power-law behavior over an appreciable range of scales. This raises the question whether a scaling framework can be applied when the system under analysis does not exhibit power-law behavior. Here, we derive a general finite-size scaling framework applicable to such systems that can be used to identify incipient critical behavior and links the scale dependence of the RSA and the SAR. We confirm the generality of our theory by using data from a serpentine grassland plot, which exhibits a power-law SAR, and the Barro Colorado Island plot in Panama, whose SAR shows deviations from power-law behavior at every scale. Our results demonstrate that scaling provides a model-independent framework for analyzing and unifying ecological data and that, despite the absence of power laws, ecosystems are poised in the vicinity of a critical point.
pubmed:commentsCorrections
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Dec
pubmed:issn
1091-6490
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:day
2
pubmed:volume
105
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
18714-7
pubmed:dateRevised
2010-9-23
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2008
pubmed:articleTitle
Incipient criticality in ecological communities.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada T6G 2H1.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S., Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't