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ORGANISMAL STOICHIOMETRY: QUANTIFYING NON‐INDEPENDENCE AMONG FOOD COMPONENTS
Author(s) -
Raubenheimer David,
Simpson Stephen J.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
ecology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.144
H-Index - 294
eISSN - 1939-9170
pISSN - 0012-9658
DOI - 10.1890/02-0248
Subject(s) - ecological stoichiometry , ecology , herbivore , biology , relevance (law) , independence (probability theory) , ecosystem , mathematics , political science , law , statistics
Ecological stoichiometry represents an important innovation in ecological modeling, both in its recognition of the causal role of species‐specific regulatory physiology in high‐level ecological processes and in its adoption of multiple‐substance models. In this paper we provide an overview of a geometrical approach for studying the exchange of nutrients between individual organisms and their environment that, although developed independently, shares much in common with ecological stoichiometry and might, we believe, contribute to its further development. In particular, the framework focuses on identifying food components that interact in their effects on organismal nutrition, and quantifying the consequences of these interactions for ingestive regulation, post‐ingestive processing, and animal performance. We illustrate our approach using data for terrestrial herbivores (insects) and discuss the potential relevance of these data for models of ecological processes.