The Allometry of Growth and Reproduction

Allometry investigates the effects of size on such variables as food intake, growth rates and age at first reproduction. Here, explanations are proposed for many phenomena.

Michael J. Reiss (Author)

9780521423588, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 31 May 1991

200 pages, 15 b/w illus. 18 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.1 cm, 0.296 kg

'… Reiss achieves a rare balance in illuminating his subject without unnecessary complication.' Journal of Natural History

The technique of allometry investigates the effects of size on such variables as food intake, energy requirements, growth rates and age at first reproduction. This book brings together much of what is known about the consequences of size and provides a new and mathematically rigorous framework within which many quantitative predictions are made and tested using published and unpublished data. Explanations are proposed for many previously unexplained phenomena such as why in some species females are thousands of times heavier than males, whereas in no species are males more than about eight times heavier than females. The models presented afford a synthesis of the effects of size and open up pathways for further theoretical investigation and experimental testing. Care has been taken to give verbal presentations of all the mathematical conclusions to ensure that the text is widely intelligible.

Preface
1. Introduction
2. The scaling of average daily metabolic rate and energy intake
3. Why do larger species invest relatively less in their offspring?
4. The intraspecific relationship of parental investment to female body weight
5. Growth and productivity
6. Quantitative models of body size
7. Sexual dimorphism in body size
8. Are larger species more dimorphic in body size?
9. Surface area/volume arguments in biology
10. Prospectus
Concluding discussion
Glossary of mathematical terms
References
Index.

Subject Areas: Developmental biology [PSC]