A new paper explores patterns of offspring size for life in the ocean, from micro- to macroscopic.
Life shows two distinct reproduction strategies with parents choosing to invest in either many small or a few large offspring. Our paper describes these strategy “choices” (and the reasons behind them) for ocean life ranging from the very small (zooplankton) to the very, very large (whales). The work included compiling adult and offspring sizes (along with conversion factors) for 407 species covering 17 orders of magnitude of body mass.
The paper can be found here
and our size database is published here
Citation:
Neuheimer, A.B., M. Hartvig, J. Heuschele, S. Hylander, T. Kiørboe, K.H. Olsson, J. Sainmont, and K.H. Andersen. 2015. Adult and offspring size in the ocean over 17 orders of magnitude follows two life history strategies. Ecology 96:3303–3311.
Neuheimer, A.B., M. Hartvig, J. Heuschele, S. Hylander, T. Kiørboe, K.H. Olsson, J. Sainmont, and K.H. Andersen. 2015. Adult and offspring size in the ocean: A database of size metrics and conversion factors. Ecology DOI: 10.1890/15-1261.