CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 58Physiological and biochemical adaptationsEvolution and Genetic DynamicsEvolution and Paleontology Studies

The Scales That Limit: The Physical Boundaries of Evolution

Open access
Kempes, Christopher P., Koehl, M. A. R., West, Geoffrey B.·2019·Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
DOI 10.3389/fevo.2019.00242
Open this paper in CoChat — free accountOpen PDF

Abstract

Organisms are subject to the laws of physics, so the process of evolution by genetic variation and natural selection is constrained by these fundamental laws. Classic and recent studies of the biophysical limits facing organisms have shown how fundamental physical constraints can be used to predict broad-scale relationships between body size and organismal biomechanics and physiology. These relationships often take the form of power laws across a wide range of body sizes for organisms sharing a common body plan. However, such biophysical perspectives have not been fully connected with the detailed dynamics of evolution by natural selection, nor with the variation between species around the central scaling relationships. Here we first discuss what a general biophysical theory of evolution would require and provide an abstracted framework for aspects of such a theory. We discuss how such a theory should eventually be capable of not only predicting scaling relationships, but also of identifying the types of tradeoffs shown by different species occupying a particular niche. We then discuss how one key higher-order requirement of a biophysical theory of evolution is the ability to predict asymptotic behavior and the limits of a particular body plan. We use several examples to illustrate how dominant physical constraints can be used to predict the minimum and maximum body sizes for a particular body plan, and we argue that prediction of these limits is essential for identifying the dominant physical constraints for a given category of organisms. Our framework proposes that a major portion of fitness should be the overlay of how all traits of a particular body plan interact with fundamental physical constraints. In our examples we investigate multiple physical limits on particular traits, and also how the interaction of a number of traits determines the size limits on entire body plans, such as those of vascular plants. We use bacteria as an example of the shifts in which traits are most limiting at various sizes. Finally, we address the effects of environmental conditions and ecological interactions in determining which of the physical constraints faced by organisms are most likely to affect their fitness.

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.3389/fevo.2019.00242

Cites

64 of 64 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Recomputing p-values needs the paper’s full text.

Claims the paper makes

We couldn’t retrieve this paper’s full text, so its claims and self-check weren’t run. The registry and citation checks still apply.

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • All evolutionary trajectories occur under generic selective constraints such as the laws of mathematics, physics and chemistry, and these should lead to some universal features.

    “First, all evolutionary trajectories occur under certain generic selective constraints, such as the laws of mathematics, physics and chemistry, and these should lead to some universal features [43,44].”

    From Fundamental constraints to the logic of living systems (2024) · cites this paper as [43]

  • Energy is a key consideration in the evolutionary optimization of organisms.

    “Other arguments related to metabolic scaling indicate that energy is a key consideration in the evolutionary optimization of organisms [43,44,104,105].”

    From Fundamental constraints to the logic of living systems (2024) · cites this paper as [43]

  • One of the most powerful recent approaches to ecology connects allometric scaling laws with fundamental physical constraints.

    “One of the most powerful recent approaches to ecology connects allometric scaling laws with fundamental physical constraints [43,104,342].”

    From Fundamental constraints to the logic of living systems (2024) · cites this paper as [43]

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Related

Authors
Kempes, C. P., Koehl, M. A. R., & West, G. B.
Affiliations
  • Santa Fe Institute (US)
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
Corresponding author
Kempes, Christopher P.
ORCID
Venue
Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution
Publisher
Frontiers Media SA
Published
2019-08-07
Volume
7
ISSN
2296-701X (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.3389/fevo.2019.00242
OpenAlex
W2965209971
Cited by
58
References
64
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 8 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 9 · 2022: 7 · 2021: 9 · 2020: 4
FWCI
3.18
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • National Science Foundation (80NSSC18K1140, 1655318, 1838420)
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration (80NSSC18K1140)
  • Eugene V. and Claire E. Thaw Charitable Trust
  • Nuclear Safety and Security Commission
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Ecology › Physiological and biochemical adaptations
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Evolution and Genetic Dynamics
  • Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Paleontology › Evolution and Paleontology Studies
Keywords
body size scaling, power law, biomechanics, trade-offs, fitness, vascular plants, bacteria, environmental factors, ecological interactions

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review