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Isanta‐Navarro J, Prater C, Peoples LM, Loladze I, Phan T, Jeyasingh PD, Church MJ, Kuang Y, Elser JJ. Revisiting the growth rate hypothesis: Towards a holistic stoichiometric understanding of growth. Ecol Lett 2022; 25:2324-2339. [PMID: 36089849 PMCID: PMC9595043 DOI: 10.1111/ele.14096] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2022] [Revised: 07/27/2022] [Accepted: 07/31/2022] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
The growth rate hypothesis (GRH) posits that variation in organismal stoichiometry (C:P and N:P ratios) is driven by growth-dependent allocation of P to ribosomal RNA. The GRH has found broad but not uniform support in studies across diverse biota and habitats. We synthesise information on how and why the tripartite growth-RNA-P relationship predicted by the GRH may be uncoupled and outline paths for both theoretical and empirical work needed to broaden the working domain of the GRH. We found strong support for growth to RNA (r2 = 0.59) and RNA-P to P (r2 = 0.63) relationships across taxa, but growth to P relationships were relatively weaker (r2 = 0.09). Together, the GRH was supported in ~50% of studies. Mechanisms behind GRH uncoupling were diverse but could generally be attributed to physiological (P accumulation in non-RNA pools, inactive ribosomes, translation elongation rates and protein turnover rates), ecological (limitation by resources other than P), and evolutionary (adaptation to different nutrient supply regimes) causes. These factors should be accounted for in empirical tests of the GRH and formalised mathematically to facilitate a predictive understanding of growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jana Isanta‐Navarro
- Flathead Lake Biological StationUniversity of MontanaPolsonMontanaUSA,Department of BiologyLund UniversityLundSweden
| | - Clay Prater
- Department of Integrative BiologyUniversity of OklahomaStillwaterOklahomaUSA
| | - Logan M. Peoples
- Flathead Lake Biological StationUniversity of MontanaPolsonMontanaUSA
| | - Irakli Loladze
- Bryan College of Health Sciences, Lincoln, NE, USA and School of Mathematical & Statistical SciencesArizona State UniversityTempeArizonaUSA
| | - Tin Phan
- Division of Theoretical Biology and BiophysicsLos Alamos National LaboratoryLos AlamosNew MexicoUSA
| | | | - Matthew J. Church
- Flathead Lake Biological StationUniversity of MontanaPolsonMontanaUSA
| | - Yang Kuang
- School of Life SciencesArizona State UniversityTempeArizonaUSA
| | - James J. Elser
- Flathead Lake Biological StationUniversity of MontanaPolsonMontanaUSA
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Beck M, Mondy CP, Danger M, Billoir E, Usseglio‐Polatera P. Extending the growth rate hypothesis to species development: Can stoichiometric traits help to explain the composition of macroinvertebrate communities? OIKOS 2021. [DOI: 10.1111/oik.08090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/27/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Miriam Beck
- Univ. de Lorraine, CNRS, LIEC Metz France
- LTER‐‘Zone Atelier Moselle' Metz France
| | - Cédric P. Mondy
- Office Français de la Biodiversité, Direction Régionale d'Ile‐de‐France Vincennes France
| | - Michael Danger
- Univ. de Lorraine, CNRS, LIEC Metz France
- LTER‐‘Zone Atelier Moselle' Metz France
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3
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Markow TA. Host use and host shifts in Drosophila. CURRENT OPINION IN INSECT SCIENCE 2019; 31:139-145. [PMID: 31109667 DOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2019.01.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/22/2018] [Revised: 01/14/2019] [Accepted: 01/15/2019] [Indexed: 05/28/2023]
Abstract
Over a thousand Drosophila species have radiated onto a wide range of feeding and breeding sites. These radiations involve adaptations for locating, accepting, and growing in hosts with highly differing characteristics. In a number of species, owing to the availability of sequenced genomes, particular steps in host specialization and genes that control them, are being identified. Many cases of specialization involve the ability to detoxify some component of the host. Examples include Drosophila sechellia and the octanoic acid in Morinda citrifolia, alpha-amanitin in mycophagous drosophilids, and the alkaloids in cactophilic species. Owing to the known ecologies of many species for which genomes exist, the Drosophila model system provides an unprecedented opportunity to simultaneously examine the genes underlying HOST LOCATION, HOST ACCEPTANCE and HOST USE, the types of selection acting upon them and any coevolutionary interactions among the genes underlying these steps.
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Affiliation(s)
- Therese Ann Markow
- National Laboratory for the Genomics of Biodiversity, CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Mexico; Division of Biological Sciences, University of California at San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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4
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Rode M, Lemoine NP, Smith MD. Prospective evidence for independent nitrogen and phosphorus limitation of grasshopper (Chorthippus curtipennis) growth in a tallgrass prairie. PLoS One 2017; 12:e0177754. [PMID: 28520785 PMCID: PMC5433754 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177754] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2017] [Accepted: 05/02/2017] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Insect herbivores play a pivotal role in regulating plant production and community composition, and their role in terrestrial ecosystems is partly determined by their feeding behavior and performance among plants of differing nutritional quality. Historically, nitrogen (N) has been considered the primary limiting nutrient of herbivorous insects, but N is only one of many potential nutrients important to insect performance. Of these nutrients, phosphorus (P) is perhaps the most important because somatic growth depends upon P-rich ribosomal RNA. Yet relatively few studies have assessed the strength of P-limitation for terrestrial insects and even fewer have simultaneously manipulated both N and P to assess the relative strengths of N- and P-limitation. Here, we tested for potential N and P limitation, as well as N:P co-limitation, on Chorthippis curtipennis (Orthoptera, Acrididae), an abundant member of arthropod communities of central US prairies. Our results demonstrate weak evidence for both N and P limitation of C. curtipennis growth rates in laboratory feeding assays. Importantly, P-limitation was just as strong as N-limitation, but we found no evidence for NP co-limitation in our study. Furthermore, nutrient limitation was not apparent in field studies, suggesting that insect growth rates may be predominately controlled by other factors, including temperature and predation. Our results suggest that P should be jointly considered, along with N, as a primary determinant of herbivore feeding behavior under both current and future climate conditions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Madison Rode
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
| | - Nathan P. Lemoine
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| | - Melinda D. Smith
- Department of Biology, Graduate Degree Program in Ecology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, United States of America
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5
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Leal MC, Seehausen O, Matthews B. The Ecology and Evolution of Stoichiometric Phenotypes. Trends Ecol Evol 2016; 32:108-117. [PMID: 28017452 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2016.11.006] [Citation(s) in RCA: 48] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/01/2016] [Revised: 11/18/2016] [Accepted: 11/22/2016] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
Ecological stoichiometry has generated new insights into how the balance of elements affects ecological interactions and ecosystem processes, but little is known about the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of stoichiometric traits. Understanding the origins and drivers of stoichiometric trait variation between and within species will improve our understanding about the ecological responses of communities to environmental change and the ecosystem effects of organisms. In addition, studying the plasticity, heritability, and genetic basis of stoichiometric traits might improve predictions about how organisms adapt to changing environmental conditions, and help to identify interactions and feedbacks between phenotypic evolution and ecosystem processes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miguel C Leal
- Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeochemistry, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland.
| | - Ole Seehausen
- Department of Fish Ecology and Evolution, Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology (Eawag), Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeochemistry, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland; Division of Aquatic Ecology and Evolution, Institute of Ecology and Evolution, University of Bern, 3012 Bern, Switzerland
| | - Blake Matthews
- Department of Aquatic Ecology, Eawag, Center for Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeochemistry, 6047 Kastanienbaum, Switzerland
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7
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Janssens L, Van Dievel M, Stoks R. Warming reinforces nonconsumptive predator effects on prey growth, physiology, and body stoichiometry. Ecology 2015; 96:3270-80. [DOI: 10.1890/15-0030.1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 35] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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Ott D, Digel C, Rall BC, Maraun M, Scheu S, Brose U. Unifying elemental stoichiometry and metabolic theory in predicting species abundances. Ecol Lett 2014; 17:1247-56. [PMID: 25041038 DOI: 10.1111/ele.12330] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/17/2014] [Revised: 04/29/2014] [Accepted: 06/24/2014] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
While metabolic theory predicts variance in population density within communities depending on population average body masses, the ecological stoichiometry concept relates density variation across communities to varying resource stoichiometry. Using a data set including biomass densities of 4959 populations of soil invertebrates across 48 forest sites we combined these two frameworks. We analyzed how the scaling of biomass densities with population-averaged body masses systematically interacts with stoichiometric variables. Simplified analyses employing either only body masses or only resource stoichiometry are highly context sensitive and yield variable and often misleading results. Our findings provide strong evidence that analyses of ecological state variables should integrate allometric and stoichiometric variables to explain deviations from predicted allometric scaling and avoid erroneous conclusions. In consequence, our study provides an important step towards unifying two prominent ecological theories, metabolic theory and ecological stoichiometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- David Ott
- J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, Germany
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Bullejos FJ, Carrillo P, Gorokhova E, Medina-Sánchez JM, Villar-Argaiz M. Nucleic acid content in crustacean zooplankton: bridging metabolic and stoichiometric predictions. PLoS One 2014; 9:e86493. [PMID: 24466118 PMCID: PMC3897710 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0086493] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/23/2013] [Accepted: 12/14/2013] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Metabolic and stoichiometric theories of ecology have provided broad complementary principles to understand ecosystem processes across different levels of biological organization. We tested several of their cornerstone hypotheses by measuring the nucleic acid (NA) and phosphorus (P) content of crustacean zooplankton species in 22 high mountain lakes (Sierra Nevada and the Pyrenees mountains, Spain). The P-allocation hypothesis (PAH) proposes that the genome size is smaller in cladocerans than in copepods as a result of selection for fast growth towards P-allocation from DNA to RNA under P limitation. Consistent with the PAH, the RNA:DNA ratio was >8-fold higher in cladocerans than in copepods, although 'fast-growth' cladocerans did not always exhibit higher RNA and lower DNA contents in comparison to 'slow-growth' copepods. We also showed strong associations among growth rate, RNA, and total P content supporting the growth rate hypothesis, which predicts that fast-growing organisms have high P content because of the preferential allocation to P-rich ribosomal RNA. In addition, we found that ontogenetic variability in NA content of the copepod Mixodiaptomus laciniatus (intra- and interstage variability) was comparable to the interspecific variability across other zooplankton species. Further, according to the metabolic theory of ecology, temperature should enhance growth rate and hence RNA demands. RNA content in zooplankton was correlated with temperature, but the relationships were nutrient-dependent, with a positive correlation in nutrient-rich ecosystems and a negative one in those with scarce nutrients. Overall our results illustrate the mechanistic connections among organismal NA content, growth rate, nutrients and temperature, contributing to the conceptual unification of metabolic and stoichiometric theories.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Elena Gorokhova
- Department of Applied Environmental Science, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Manuel Villar-Argaiz
- Department of Ecology, Faculty of Sciences, University of Granada, Granada, Spain
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11
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Differing nutritional constraints of consumers across ecosystems. Oecologia 2014; 174:1367-76. [DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2860-z] [Citation(s) in RCA: 47] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/07/2013] [Accepted: 12/11/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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12
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Schoo KL, Aberle N, Malzahn AM, Schmalenbach I, Boersma M. The reaction of European lobster larvae (Homarus gammarus) to different quality food: effects of ontogenetic shifts and pre-feeding history. Oecologia 2013; 174:581-94. [PMID: 24072442 DOI: 10.1007/s00442-013-2786-5] [Citation(s) in RCA: 16] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/27/2012] [Accepted: 09/12/2013] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
Young larval stages of many organisms represent bottlenecks in the life-history of many species. The high mortality commonly observed in, for example, decapod larvae has often been linked to poor nutrition, with most studies focussing on food quantity. Here, we focus instead on the effects of quality and have investigated its effects on the nutritional condition of lobster larvae. We established a tri-trophic food chain consisting of the cryptophyte Rhodomonas salina, the calanoid copepod Acartia tonsa and larvae of the European lobster Homarus gammarus. In a set of experiments, we manipulated the C:N:P stoichiometry of the primary producers, and accordingly those of the primary consumer. In a first experiment, R. salina was grown under N- and P-limitation and the nutrient content of the algae was manipulated by addition of the limiting nutrient to create a food quality gradient. In a second experiment, the effect on lobster larvae of long- and short-term exposure to food of varying quality during ontogenetic development was investigated. The condition of the lobster larvae was negatively affected even by subtle N- and P-nutrient limitations of the algae. Furthermore, younger lobster larvae were more vulnerable to nutrient limitation than older ones, suggesting an ontogenetic shift in the capacity of lobster larvae to cope with low quality food. The results presented here might have substantial consequences for the survival of lobster larvae in the field, as, in the light of future climate change and re-oligotrophication of the North Sea, lobster larvae might face marked changes in temperature and nutrient conditions, thus significantly altering their condition and growth.
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Affiliation(s)
- Katherina L Schoo
- Alfred-Wegener-Institut, Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung, Biologische Anstalt Helgoland, Postbox 180, 27483, Helgoland, Germany,
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13
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Neiman M, Kay AD, Krist AC. Can resource costs of polyploidy provide an advantage to sex? Heredity (Edinb) 2013; 110:152-9. [PMID: 23188174 PMCID: PMC3554456 DOI: 10.1038/hdy.2012.78] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/24/2012] [Revised: 07/26/2012] [Accepted: 08/01/2012] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The predominance of sexual reproduction despite its costs indicates that sex provides substantial benefits, which are usually thought to derive from the direct genetic consequences of recombination and syngamy. While genetic benefits of sex are certainly important, sexual and asexual individuals, lineages, or populations may also differ in physiological and life history traits that could influence outcomes of competition between sexuals and asexuals across environmental gradients. Here, we address possible phenotypic costs of a very common correlate of asexuality, polyploidy. We suggest that polyploidy could confer resource costs related to the dietary phosphorus demands of nucleic acid production; such costs could facilitate the persistence of sex in situations where asexual taxa are of higher ploidy level and phosphorus availability limits important traits like growth and reproduction. We outline predictions regarding the distribution of diploid sexual and polyploid asexual taxa across biogeochemical gradients and provide suggestions for study systems and empirical approaches for testing elements of our hypothesis.
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Affiliation(s)
- M Neiman
- Department of Biology, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA.
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14
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Yu Q, Wu H, He N, Lü X, Wang Z, Elser JJ, Wu J, Han X. Testing the growth rate hypothesis in vascular plants with above- and below-ground biomass. PLoS One 2012; 7:e32162. [PMID: 22427823 PMCID: PMC3302800 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0032162] [Citation(s) in RCA: 50] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/15/2011] [Accepted: 01/21/2012] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
The growth rate hypothesis (GRH) proposes that higher growth rate (the rate of change in biomass per unit biomass, μ) is associated with higher P concentration and lower C:P and N:P ratios. However, the applicability of the GRH to vascular plants is not well-studied and few studies have been done on belowground biomass. Here we showed that, for aboveground, belowground and total biomass of three study species, μ was positively correlated with N:C under N limitation and positively correlated with P:C under P limitation. However, the N:P ratio was a unimodal function of μ, increasing for small values of μ, reaching a maximum, and then decreasing. The range of variations in μ was positively correlated with variation in C:N:P stoichiometry. Furthermore, μ and C:N:P ranges for aboveground biomass were negatively correlated with those for belowground. Our results confirm the well-known association of growth rate with tissue concentration of the limiting nutrient and provide empirical support for recent theoretical formulations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Qiang Yu
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Honghui Wu
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Nianpeng He
- Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Xiaotao Lü
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - Zhiping Wang
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
| | - James J. Elser
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
| | - Jianguo Wu
- School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, United States of America
- Sino-US Center for Conservation, Energy and Sustainability Science (SUCCESS), Inner Mongolia University, Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China
| | - Xingguo Han
- State Key Laboratory of Forest and Soil Ecology, Institute of Applied Ecology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang, China
- State Key Laboratory of Vegetation and Environmental Change, Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
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Apple JL, Wink M, Wills SE, Bishop JG. Successional change in phosphorus stoichiometry explains the inverse relationship between herbivory and lupin density on Mount St. Helens. PLoS One 2009; 4:e7807. [PMID: 19907662 PMCID: PMC2771767 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0007807] [Citation(s) in RCA: 54] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2008] [Accepted: 10/15/2009] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background The average nitrogen-to-phosphorus ratio (N∶P) of insect herbivores is less than that of leaves, suggesting that P may mediate plant-insect interactions more often than appreciated. We investigated whether succession-related heterogeneity in N and P stoichiometry influences herbivore performance on N-fixing lupin (Lupinus lepidus) colonizing primary successional volcanic surfaces, where the abundances of several specialist lepidopteran herbivores are inversely related to lupin density and are known to alter lupin colonization dynamics. We examined larval performance in response to leaf nutritional characteristics using gelechiid and pyralid leaf-tiers, and a noctuid leaf-cutter. Methodology/Principal Findings We conducted four studies. First, growth of larvae raised on wild-collected leaves responded positively to leaf %P and negatively to leaf carbon (%C), but there was no effect of %N or quinolizidine alkaloids (QAs). Noctuid survival was also positively related to %P. Second, we raised gelechiid larvae on greenhouse-grown lupins with factorial manipulation of competitors and soil N and P. In the presence of competition, larval mass was highest at intermediate leaf N∶P and high %P. Third, survival of gelechiid larvae placed on lupins in high-density patches was greater when plant competitors were removed than on controls. Fourth, surveys of field-collected leaves in 2000, 2002, and 2003 indicated that both %P and %N were generally greater in plants from low-density areas. QAs in plants from low-density areas were equal to or higher than QAs in high-density areas. Conclusions/Significance Our results demonstrate that declines in lupin P content under competitive conditions are associated with decreased larval growth and survival sufficient to cause the observed negative relationship between herbivore abundance and host density. The results support the theoretical finding that declines in stoichiometric resource quality (caused here by succession) have the potential to cause a decrease in consumer abundance despite very dense quantities of the resource.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jennifer L. Apple
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, United States of America
| | - Michael Wink
- Institut für Pharmazie und Molekulare Biotechnologie, Universität Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Shannon E. Wills
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, United States of America
| | - John G. Bishop
- School of Biological Sciences, Washington State University, Vancouver, Washington, United States of America
- * E-mail:
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Allen AP, Gillooly JF. Towards an integration of ecological stoichiometry and the metabolic theory of ecology to better understand nutrient cycling. Ecol Lett 2009; 12:369-84. [PMID: 19379132 DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01302.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 141] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/29/2022]
Abstract
Ecologists have long recognized that species are sustained by the flux, storage and turnover of two biological currencies: energy, which fuels biological metabolism and materials (i.e. chemical elements), which are used to construct biomass. Ecological theories often describe the dynamics of populations, communities and ecosystems in terms of either energy (e.g. population-dynamics theory) or materials (e.g. resource-competition theory). These two classes of theory have been formulated using different assumptions, and yield distinct, but often complementary predictions for the same or similar phenomena. For example, the energy-based equation of von Bertalanffy and the nutrient-based equation of Droop both describe growth. Yet, there is relatively little theoretical understanding of how these two distinct classes of theory, and the currencies they use, are interrelated. Here, we begin to address this issue by integrating models and concepts from two rapidly developing theories, the metabolic theory of ecology and ecological stoichiometry theory. We show how combining these theories, using recently published theory and data along with new theoretical formulations, leads to novel predictions on the flux, storage and turnover of energy and materials that apply to animals, plants and unicells. The theory and results presented here highlight the potential for developing a more general ecological theory that explicitly relates the energetics and stoichiometry of individuals, communities and ecosystems to subcellular structures and processes. We conclude by discussing the basic and applied implications of such a theory, and the prospects and challenges for further development.
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Affiliation(s)
- Andrew P Allen
- Department of Biological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW 2109, Australia.
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NEIMAN M, THEISEN KM, MAYRY ME, KAY AD. Can phosphorus limitation contribute to the maintenance of sex? A test of a key assumption. J Evol Biol 2009; 22:1359-63. [DOI: 10.1111/j.1420-9101.2009.01748.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
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19
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Matzek V, Vitousek PM. N:P stoichiometry and protein:RNA ratios in vascular plants: an evaluation of the growth-rate hypothesis. Ecol Lett 2009; 12:765-71. [PMID: 19392715 DOI: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01310.x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 102] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
The growth-rate hypothesis states that fast-growing organisms need relatively more phosphorus-rich RNA to support rapid rates of protein synthesis, and therefore predicts, within and among taxa, increases in RNA and phosphorus content (relative to protein and nitrogen content) with increased growth rate. Here, we present a test of this hypothesis in vascular plants. We determined nitrogen : phosphorus ratios and protein:RNA ratios in pines growing at different rates due to nutrient conditions. In general, when comparing leaves of the same species at low and high growth rates, the faster-growing plants had higher RNA content, higher %N and %P, and lower protein:RNA ratios, but not consistently lower N:P ratios. We found no link between growth rate and foliar N:P or protein:RNA when comparing multiple species of different inherent growth rates. We conclude that plants adjust the balance of protein and RNA to favour either speed or efficiency of protein synthesis, but this balance does not alone dictate leaf stoichiometry.
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Affiliation(s)
- Virginia Matzek
- Department of Environmental Studies, California State University, 6000 J Street, Sacramento, CA 95819, USA.
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21
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Baudouin-Cornu P. [Stoichiometric, my dear Watson!]. Med Sci (Paris) 2008; 24:483-9. [PMID: 18466725 DOI: 10.1051/medsci/2008245483] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Living organisms can be seen as complex chemicals interacting with their environment through chemical reactions. As such, they are subjected to the laws of stoichiometry: their constitutive elements (atoms) cannot be created (they must be found in their environment) nor destroyed. Acknowledging these rules led ecologists to the concept of "biological stoichiometry". In this review, I want to show that combining (1) the study of the elemental composition of biopolymers and (2) the ecologist's point of view, particularly the concept of biological stoichiometry, benefits molecular biology. In particular, this coupled approach unveils parts of the history of organisms, helps interpreting transcriptional profiles and sheds a different light on the growth of carcinogenic tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peggy Baudouin-Cornu
- CEA, iBiTecS, SBIGeM, LBI, Bâtiment 142, CEA Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France.
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