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    <title>UTas ePrints - Methodological and conceptual issues in the search for a relationship between animal body-size distributions and benthic habitat architecture</title>
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    <meta content="Robson, B.J." name="eprints.creators_name" />
<meta content="Barmuta, Leon A." name="eprints.creators_name" />
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<meta content="Methodological and conceptual issues in the search for a relationship between animal body-size distributions and benthic habitat architecture
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<meta content="body-size spectra
experimental design
habitat complexity
habitat structure
macroecology
critique" name="eprints.keywords" />
<meta content="Benthic ecologists have studied the distribution of animal body sizes because it is a form of 'taxon-free' classification that may be a useful metric for describing variation within and between ecological communities. In particular, the idea that the allometry of physiological and life-history traits may control species composition and relative abundances implies a functional link between body-size distributions and communities. The physical structure of aquatic habitats has often been cited as the mechanism by which habitat may determine body-size distributions in communities. However, further progress is hindered by a lack of theoretical clarity regarding the mechanisms that connect body size to the characteristics of ecological communities, leading to methods that may obscure interesting trends in body-size data. This review examines the methodological and conceptual issues hindering progress in the search for a relationship between animal body size and habitat architecture and suggests ways to resolve these issues. Problems are identified with current methods for the measurement of animal body size, the data and measures used to quantify body-size distributions and the methods used to identify patterns therein. Fundamentally, renewed emphasis on the mechanisms by which animal body sizes are influenced by habitat architecture is required to refine methodology and synthesise results from pattern-seeking and mechanistic studies." name="eprints.abstract" />
<meta content="2005-02-04" name="eprints.date" />
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<meta content="Allen, C. R., and Holling, C. S. (2002). Cross-scale morphology. In ‘Encyclopedia of Environmetrics. Volume 1’. (Eds A. H. El-Shaarawi and W. W. Piegorsch.) pp. 450–452. (John Wiley &amp; Sons: Chichester.)


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Yamada, S. B., Navarrete, S. A., and Needham, C. (1998). Predation induced changes in behaviour and growth rate in three populations of the intertidal snail, Littorina sitkana (Philippi). Journal of Experimental Marine Biology and Ecology 220, 213–226.
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    <h1 class="ep_tm_pagetitle">Methodological and conceptual issues in the search for a relationship between animal body-size distributions and benthic habitat architecture</h1>
    <p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><span class="person_name">Robson, B.J.</span> and <span class="person_name">Barmuta, Leon A.</span> and <span class="person_name">Fairweather, P.G.</span> (2005) <xhtml:em>Methodological and conceptual issues in the search for a relationship between animal body-size distributions and benthic habitat architecture.</xhtml:em> Marine and Freshwater Research, 56 (1). pp. 1-11. ISSN 1323-1650</p><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"></p><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block"><tr><td valign="top" style="text-align:center"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1928/1/RobsonBarmutaFairweather2005.pdf"><img alt="[img]" src="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/style/images/fileicons/application_pdf.png" class="ep_doc_icon" border="0" /></a></td><td valign="top"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/1928/1/RobsonBarmutaFairweather2005.pdf"><span class="ep_document_citation">PDF</span></a> - Full text restricted - Requires a PDF viewer<br />182Kb</td></tr></table><p style="margin-bottom: 1em" class="not_ep_block">Official URL: <a href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF04210">http://dx.doi.org/10.1071/MF04210</a></p><div class="not_ep_block"><h2>Abstract</h2><p style="padding-bottom: 16px; text-align: left; margin: 1em auto 0em auto">Benthic ecologists have studied the distribution of animal body sizes because it is a form of 'taxon-free' classification that may be a useful metric for describing variation within and between ecological communities. In particular, the idea that the allometry of physiological and life-history traits may control species composition and relative abundances implies a functional link between body-size distributions and communities. The physical structure of aquatic habitats has often been cited as the mechanism by which habitat may determine body-size distributions in communities. However, further progress is hindered by a lack of theoretical clarity regarding the mechanisms that connect body size to the characteristics of ecological communities, leading to methods that may obscure interesting trends in body-size data. This review examines the methodological and conceptual issues hindering progress in the search for a relationship between animal body size and habitat architecture and suggests ways to resolve these issues. Problems are identified with current methods for the measurement of animal body size, the data and measures used to quantify body-size distributions and the methods used to identify patterns therein. Fundamentally, renewed emphasis on the mechanisms by which animal body sizes are influenced by habitat architecture is required to refine methodology and synthesise results from pattern-seeking and mechanistic studies.</p></div><table style="margin-bottom: 1em" cellpadding="3" class="not_ep_block" border="0"><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Item Type:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">Article</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Keywords:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">body-size spectra&#13;
experimental design&#13;
habitat complexity&#13;
habitat structure&#13;
macroecology&#13;
critique</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Subjects:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/270700.html">270000 Biological Sciences &gt; 270700 Ecology and Evolution</a><br /><a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/view/subjects/270500.html">270000 Biological Sciences &gt; 270500 Zoology</a></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ID Code:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">1928</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited By:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><span class="ep_name_citation"><span class="person_name">Dr Leon A. Barmuta</span></span></td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Deposited On:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">21 Sep 2007</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">Last Modified:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row">09 Jan 2008 02:30</td></tr><tr><th valign="top" class="ep_row">ePrint Statistics:</th><td valign="top" class="ep_row"><a target="ePrintStats" href="/es/index.php?action=show_detail_eprint;id=1928;">View statistics for this ePrint</a></td></tr></table><p align="right">Repository Staff Only: <a href="http://eprints.utas.edu.au/cgi/users/home?screen=EPrint::View&amp;eprintid=1928">item control page</a></p>
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