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. 2012 Dec 17;110(1):205–209. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1211761110

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Fig. 3. — Universal body-size distribution. Demonstrated are histograms of biomass as a function of maximal growth rate q, estimated by the well-established empirical relation (8–12). (A) Arthropods from five different regions [data from Janzen (19), biomass estimated as : forest 1-TPR; 2-OS; 3-TPH; 4-SVP; 5-TAP]. To fit the data, we used exchange rate m corresponding to , which is about (see Methods). (B) Biomass distributions of arthropods (average), phytoplankton [wet weight, 4-y average from Lake Kinneret (22)], and metazoans [dry weight, 1-y average from the Lone Oak stream (23)] are plotted on the same graph. All distributions are lumpy and nearly periodic on the left, followed by a smooth curve on the right, which agrees with our theory (black solid line). To fit all datasets simultaneously, we used and , and rescaled the q-axis by the exchange rates m of approximately (arthropods), (metazoans), and (phytoplankton) (see Methods).

Inline graphic — Universal body-size distribution. Demonstrated are histograms of biomass as a function of maximal growth rate q, estimated by the well-established empirical relation (8–12). (A) Arthropods from five different regions [data from Janzen (19), biomass estimated as : forest 1-TPR; 2-OS; 3-TPH; 4-SVP; 5-TAP]. To fit the data, we used exchange rate m corresponding to , which is about (see Methods). (B) Biomass distributions of arthropods (average), phytoplankton [wet weight, 4-y average from Lake Kinneret (22)], and metazoans [dry weight, 1-y average from the Lone Oak stream (23)] are plotted on the same graph. All distributions are lumpy and nearly periodic on the left, followed by a smooth curve on the right, which agrees with our theory (black solid line). To fit all datasets simultaneously, we used and , and rescaled the q-axis by the exchange rates m of approximately (arthropods), (metazoans), and (phytoplankton) (see Methods).