Dynamic Energy Budget Theory and Body Size
The explanation of certain body size relationships differs for intra- and inter-species comparisons in the context of the Dynamic Energy Budget (DEB) theory. Young (small) organisms behave different from old (large) ones of the same species because they typically do different things (grow fast and don't reproduce). Adults of small-bodied species, however, are expected to behave similarly to adults of large-bodied species. The reason the parameters of the DEB theory vary between species may thus follow naturally from the structure of the theory.
Maximum body length equals the maximum surface area-specific assimilation rate times the fraction of mobilised reserve that is allocated to the soma divided by the volume-specific somatic maintenance costs. Only the first of these three parameters depend on the size of the individual and is, therefore, proportional to maximum length. Appropriate ratios of parameters that depend on size are independent of size; this reveals how such parameters depend on size. Any eco-physiological quantity that can be written as function of DEB parameters can, for this reason, also be written as function of the maximum body size.
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