| | TABLE OF CONTENTS: List of Figures ix
List of Tables xiii
Foreword xv
Preface xvii
1. Stoichiometry and Homeostasis 1
Scope 3
Stoichiometry and Homeostasis 8
Yield 25
The Redfield Ratio 27
Conventions and Concerns about Element Ratios 31
Some Conventions about Growth Rate 34
A Logical Framework 35
The Structure of This Book 40
Summary and Synthesis 41
Key Definitions 42
2. Biological Chemistry: Building Cells from Elements 44
The Basis for Selection of Carbon, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus in Biochemical Evolution 45
The Elemental Composition of Major Biochemicals 51
Cell Components: The Elemental Composition of Cellular Structures 66
Summary and Synthesis 78
3. The Stoichiometry of Autotroph Growth: Variation at the Base of Food Webs 80
Cellular and Physiological Bases 81
C:N:P Stoichiometry of Entire Higher Plants 87
Autotrophs in Captivity 89
Theories of Autotroph Stoichiometry 107
Autotrophs in the Wild: Oceans, Lakes, and Land 120
Causes of Variation in Autotroph C:N:P in Nature 127
Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry 132
Summary and Synthesis 133
4. How to Build an Animal: The Stoichiometry of Metazoans 135
Biochemical and Biological Determinants of Body Elemental Composition 136
Invertebrate Stoichiometry: C:N:P in Zooplankton and Insects 138
Determinants of C:N:P in Invertebrates: The Growth Rate Hypothesis 142
Molecular Biology and the C:N:P Stoichiometry of Growth, or Ecosystem Scientists Go Astray 150
A Simple Molecular-Kinetic Model of the Growth Rate-C:N:P Connection 160
Structural Investment and the Stoichiometry of Vertebrates 168
Elemental Composition and Body Size 171
Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry 175
Summary and Synthesis 178
5. Imbalanced Resources and Animal Growth 179
Mass Balance in Growth Processes 180
Maximizing Yield in Chemistry and in Ecology 185
Limiting Factors for Heterotroph Growth: Development of Threshold Element Ratio Theory 189
A New Minimal Model of the Stoichiometry of Secondary Production 197
Some Real World Problems in Stoichiometric Balance 205
Growth Efficiency 222
Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry 227
Summary and Synthesis 229
6. The Stoichiometry of Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling 231
A Brief History of Studies of Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling 232
Stoichiometric Theories of Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling 235
Evidence That Consumers Differentially Recycle Nitrogen and Phosphorus 245
Microbial Mineralization 249
The Stoichiometry of Consumer-Driven Nutrient Recycling by Vertebrates 252
Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry 259
Summary and Synthesis 260
7. Stoichiometry in Communities: Dynamics and Interactions 262
Species Interactions 264
Positive Feedbacks and Multiple Stable States 277
Trophic Cascades 291
Light: Nutrient Effects at the Community Level 298
Feedbacks Owing to the "Constraints of Stuff": C:N Ratios in
Tall-Grass Prairie 307
Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry 308
Summary and Synthesis 310
8. Big-Scale Stoichiometry: Ecosystems in Space and Time 313
Empirical Patterns in Ecosystem Stoichiometry 315
Linkages in the Stoichiometry of Biomass Yield: Using One Substance to Obtain Another 336
Nutrient Use Efficiency at the Ecosystem Level 341
The Stoichiometry of Food-Chain Production: A New Term, Carbon Use Efficiency 348
The Fate of Primary Production 350
Global Change 354
Catalysts for Ecological Stoichiometry 364
Summary and Synthesis 366
9. Recapitulation and Integration 370
Recapitulation 370
Integration: Toward a Biological Stoichiometry of Living Systems 376
Appendix 382
Literature Cited 385
Index 431
Return to Book Description File created: 4/25/2013 |
