Mean mass-specific metabolic rates are strikingly similar across life’s major domains: Evidence for life’s metabolic optimum
2008
Loading...
View/Download File
Persistent link to this item
Statistics
View StatisticsJournal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Title
Mean mass-specific metabolic rates are strikingly similar across life’s major domains: Evidence for life’s metabolic optimum
Published Date
2008
Publisher
National Academy of Sciences
Type
Article
Abstract
A fundamental but unanswered biological question asks how much energy, on average, Earth’s different life forms spend per unit mass per unit time to remain alive. Here, using the largest database to date, for 3,006 species that includes most of the range of biological diversity on the planet—from bacteria to elephants, and algae to sapling trees—we show that metabolism displays a striking degree of homeostasis across all of life. We demonstrate that, despite the enormous biochemical, physiological, and ecological differences between the surveyed species that vary over 1020-fold in body mass, mean metabolic rates of major taxonomic groups displayed at physiological rest converge on a narrow range from 0.3 to 9 W kg 1. This 30-fold variation among life’s disparate forms represents a remarkably small range compared with the 4,000- to 65,000-fold difference between the mean metabolic rates of the smallest and largest organisms that would be observed if life as a whole conformed to universal quarterpower or third-power allometric scaling laws. The observed broad convergence on a narrow range of basal metabolic rates suggests that organismal designs that fit in this physiological window have been favored by natural selection across all of life’s major kingdoms, and that this range might therefore be considered as optimal for living matter as a whole.
Keywords
Description
http://www.pnas.org/content/105/44/16994 Copyright 2008 National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A.
Related to
Replaces
License
Collections
Series/Report Number
Funding information
Isbn identifier
Doi identifier
10.1073/pnas.0802148105
Previously Published Citation
Makarieva, A. M., Gorshkov, V. G., Li, B.-L., Chown, S. L., Reich, P. B., & Gavrilov, V. M. (2008). Mean mass-specific metabolic rates are strikingly similar across life’s major domains: Evidence for life’s metabolic optimum. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 105(44), 16994–16999. http://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0802148105
Suggested citation
Makarieva, Anastassia M; Gorshkova, Victor G; Li, Bai-Lian; Chown, Steven L; Reich, Peter B; Gavrilov, Valery M. (2008). Mean mass-specific metabolic rates are strikingly similar across life’s major domains: Evidence for life’s metabolic optimum. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, 10.1073/pnas.0802148105.
Content distributed via the University Digital Conservancy may be subject to additional license and use restrictions applied by the depositor. By using these files, users agree to the Terms of Use. Materials in the UDC may contain content that is disturbing and/or harmful. For more information, please see our statement on harmful content in digital repositories.