Rutgers researchers conduct survey on the body sizes of Earth’s organisms. Life may come in all shapes and sizes, but in nature, the most extreme size ranges predominate, according to Rutgers researchers. A survey of body sizes of Earth organisms, published Wednesday, March 29, in the science
Rutgers researchers have found that life on Earth predominantly comes in the largest and smallest sizes, with the planet’s biomass concentrated in organisms at either end of the size spectrum. The surprising discovery was made after a five-year study analyzing data on the size and biomass of every type of living organism. The pattern favoring large and small organisms held across all species types and was more pronounced in land-based organisms than in marine environments.
“This conclusion – that life on earth comes packaged predominantly in the largest and smallest sizes – was a discovery that surprised us,” said Malin Pinsky, an associate professor in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Natural Resources in the Rutgers School of Environmental and Biological Sciences and an author of the study.
“Trees, grasses, underground fungi, mangroves, corals, fish, and marine mammals all have similar maximum body sizes,” added Tekwa, now a research associate with McGill University’s Department of Biology. “This might suggest that there is a universal upper size limit due to ecological, evolutionary, or biophysical limitations.”
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