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Cited by 364

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 79 of the 79 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Ecosystem ecology: size-based constraints on the pyramids of life

Open access
Trebilco, Rowan, Baum, Julia K., Salomon, Anne K., Dulvy, Nicholas K.·2013·Trends in Ecology & Evolution

Abstract

Biomass distribution and energy flow in ecosystems are traditionally described with trophic pyramids, and increasingly with size spectra, particularly in aquatic ecosystems. Here, we show that these methods are equivalent and interchangeable representations of the same information. Although pyramids are visually intuitive, explicitly linking them to size spectra connects pyramids to metabolic and size-based theory, and illuminates size-based constraints on pyramid shape. We show that bottom-heavy pyramids should predominate in the real world, whereas top-heavy pyramids indicate overestimation of predator abundance or energy subsidies. Making the link to ecological pyramids establishes size spectra as a central concept in ecosystem ecology, and provides a powerful framework both for understanding baseline expectations of community structure and for evaluating future scenarios under climate change and exploitation.

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Metadata

Authors
Trebilco, R., Baum, J. K., Salomon, A. K., & Dulvy, N. K.
Venue
Trends in Ecology & Evolution
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2013-07
Volume
28
Issue
7
Pages
423-431
ISSN
0169-5347 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W2161575610
Cited by
364
References
79
FWCI
4.65
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
green

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CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Ecosystem ecology: size-based constraints on the pyramids of life. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1016/j.tree.2013.03.008
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Trebilco, R., Baum, J. K., Salomon, A. K., & Dulvy, N. K. (2013). Ecosystem ecology: size-based constraints on the pyramids of life. Trends in Ecology & Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2013.03.008

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