title: Characteristic Sizes of Life in the Oceans, from Bacteria to Whales.
abstract: The size of an individual organism is a key trait to characterize its physiology and feeding ecology. Size-based scaling laws may have a limited size range of validity or undergo a transition from one scaling exponent to another at some characteristic size. We collate and review data on size-based scaling laws for resource acquisition, mobility, sensory range, and progeny size for all pelagic marine life, from bacteria to whales. Further, we review and develop simple theoretical arguments for observed scaling laws and the characteristic sizes of a change or breakdown of power laws. We divide life in the ocean into seven major realms based on trophic strategy, physiology, and life history strategy. Such a categorization represents a move away from a taxonomically oriented description toward a trait-based description of life in the oceans. Finally, we discuss life forms that transgress the simple size-based rules and identify unanswered questions.
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: K H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Andersen
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|Marine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen, 3000 Helsingør, Denmark.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Berge
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.|Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas, C1033AAJ Buenos Aires, Argentina.|Estación de Fotobiología Playa Unión, 9103 Rawson, Argentina.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Gonçalves
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.|Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.|Systemic Conservation Biology, J.F. Blumenbach Institute of Zoology and Anthropology, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hartvig
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Heuschele
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.|Centre for Ecology and Evolution in Microbial Model Systems (EEMiS), Linnaeus University, 391 82 Kalmar, Sweden.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hylander
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: N S
authors.initials: NS
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Lindemann
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.|Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, 2200 Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Martens
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.|Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark.|Department of Oceanography, University of Hawai'i at Mānoa, Honolulu, Hawaii 96822.
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Neuheimer
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Olsson
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Palacz
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.|GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel, 24148 Kiel, Germany.
authors.forename: A E F
authors.initials: AE
authors.lastname: Prowe
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sainmont
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|Marine Biological Section, University of Copenhagen, 3000 Helsingør, Denmark.
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Traving
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: A W
authors.initials: AW
authors.lastname: Visser
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|Department of Physics, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Wadhwa
authors.affiliation: VKR Centre for Ocean Life and.|National Institute of Aquatic Resources, Technical University of Denmark, 2920 Charlottenlund, Denmark; email: kha@aqua.dtu.dk.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kiørboe
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001419:Bacteria / Q000254:growth & development*; D017753:Ecosystem; D008386:Marine Biology; D008954:Models, Biological; D014907:Whales / Q000254:growth & development*
keywords: allometric scaling; body size; fish; metabolism; mixotrophy; plankton; whales