Open AccessSimilarity principles for the biology of pelagic animals
Author(s) -
Г. И. Баренблатт,
A. S. Monin
Publication year - 1983
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.80.11.3540
Subject(s) - pelagic zone , power law , similarity (geometry) , statistical physics , population , exponent , intensity (physics) , fractal , biology , evolutionary biology , biological system , statistics , mathematics , physics , ecology , mathematical analysis , computer science , artificial intelligence , image (mathematics) , linguistics , demography , philosophy , quantum mechanics , sociology
A similarity principle is formulated according to which the statistical pattern of the pelagic population is identical in all scales sufficiently large in comparison with the molecular one. From this principle, a power law is obtained analytically for the pelagic animal biomass distribution over the animal sizes. A hypothesis is presented according to which, under fixed external conditions, the oxygen exchange intensity of an animal is governed only by its mass and density and by the specific absorbing capacity of the animal's respiratory organ. From this hypothesis a power law is obtained by the method of dimensional analysis for the exchange intensity mass dependence. The known empirical values of the exponent of this power law are interpreted as an indication that the oxygen-absorbing organs of the animals can be represented as so-called fractal surfaces. In conclusion the biological principle of the decrease in specific exchange intensity with increase in animal mass is discussed.