Size-dependent movement explains why bigger is better in fragmented landscapes.

ABSTRACT: Body size is a fundamental trait known to allometrically scale with metabolic rate and therefore a key determinant of individual development, life history, and consequently fitness. In spatially structured environments, movement is an equally important driver of fitness. Because movement is tightly coupled with body size, we expect habitat fragmentation to induce a strong selection pressure on size variation across and within species. Changes in body size distributions are then, in turn, expected to alter food web dynamics. However, no consensus has been reached on how spatial isolation and resource growth affect consumer body size distributions. Our aim was to investigate how these two factors shape the body size distribution of consumers under scenarios of size-dependent and size-indepen

SUBMITTER: Hillaert J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6262741 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature