refs.bib

@article{dossena2012,
  title = {Warming Alters Community Size Structure and Ecosystem Functioning},
  author = {Dossena, Matteo and {Yvon-Durocher}, Gabriel and Grey, Jonathan and Montoya, Jos{\'e} M. and Perkins, Daniel M. and Trimmer, Mark and Woodward, Guy},
  year = {2012},
  month = aug,
  journal = {Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences},
  volume = {279},
  number = {1740},
  pages = {3011--3019},
  publisher = {{Royal Society}},
  doi = {10.1098/rspb.2012.0394},
  abstract = {Global warming can affect all levels of biological complexity, though we currently understand least about its potential impact on communities and ecosystems. At the ecosystem level, warming has the capacity to alter the structure of communities and the rates of key ecosystem processes they mediate. Here we assessed the effects of a 4\textdegree C rise in temperature on the size structure and taxonomic composition of benthic communities in aquatic mesocosms, and the rates of detrital decomposition they mediated. Warming had no effect on biodiversity, but altered community size structure in two ways. In spring, warmer systems exhibited steeper size spectra driven by declines in total community biomass and the proportion of large organisms. By contrast, in autumn, warmer systems had shallower size spectra driven by elevated total community biomass and a greater proportion of large organisms. Community-level shifts were mirrored by changes in decomposition rates. Temperature-corrected microbial and macrofaunal decomposition rates reflected the shifts in community structure and were strongly correlated with biomass across mesocosms. Our study demonstrates that the 4\textdegree C rise in temperature expected by the end of the century has the potential to alter the structure and functioning of aquatic ecosystems profoundly, as well as the intimate linkages between these levels of ecological organization.},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\44KPHBFT\\Dossena et al. - 2012 - Warming alters community size structure and ecosys.pdf;C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\MZEC8ZP7\\rspb.2012.html}
}

@article{edwards2017,
  title = {Testing and Recommending Methods for Fitting Size Spectra to Data},
  author = {Edwards, Andrew M. and Robinson, James P. W. and Plank, Michael J. and Baum, Julia K. and Blanchard, Julia L.},
  year = {2017},
  journal = {Methods in Ecology and Evolution},
  volume = {8},
  number = {1},
  pages = {57--67},
  issn = {2041-210X},
  doi = {10.1111/2041-210X.12641},
  abstract = {The size spectrum of an ecological community characterizes how a property, such as abundance or biomass, varies with body size. Size spectra are often used as ecosystem indicators of marine systems. They have been fitted to data from various sources, including groundfish trawl surveys, visual surveys of fish in kelp forests and coral reefs, sediment samples of benthic invertebrates and satellite remote sensing of chlorophyll. Over the past decades, several methods have been used to fit size spectra to data. We document eight such methods, demonstrating their commonalities and differences. Seven methods use linear regression (of which six require binning of data), while the eighth uses maximum likelihood estimation. We test the accuracy of the methods on simulated data. We demonstrate that estimated size-spectrum slopes are not always comparable between the seven regression-based methods because such methods are not estimating the same parameter. We find that four of the eight tested methods can sometimes give reasonably accurate estimates of the exponent of the individual size distribution (which is related to the slope of the size spectrum). However, sensitivity analyses find that maximum likelihood estimation is the only method that is consistently accurate, and the only one that yields reliable confidence intervals for the exponent. We therefore recommend the use of maximum likelihood estimation when fitting size spectra. To facilitate this, we provide documented R code for fitting and plotting results. This should provide consistency in future studies and improve the quality of any resulting advice to ecosystem managers. In particular, the calculation of reliable confidence intervals will allow proper consideration of uncertainty when making management decisions.},
  copyright = {\textcopyright{} 2016 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada. Methods in Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley \& Sons Ltd on behalf of the British Ecological Society.},
  langid = {english},
  keywords = {abundance size spectrum,biomass size spectrum,bounded power-law distribution,ecosystem approach to fisheries,ecosystem indicators,individual size distribution,truncated Pareto distribution},
  annotation = {\_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/2041-210X.12641},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\GL22VFWI\\Edwards et al. - 2017 - Testing and recommending methods for fitting size .pdf;C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\PMVXNZDS\\2041-210X.html}
}

@article{edwards2020,
  title = {Accounting for the Bin Structure of Data Removes Bias When Fitting Size Spectra},
  author = {Edwards, Andrew M. and Robinson, James P. W. and Blanchard, Julia L. and Baum, Julia K. and Plank, Michael J.},
  year = {2020},
  month = feb,
  journal = {Marine Ecology Progress Series},
  volume = {636},
  pages = {19--33},
  issn = {0171-8630, 1616-1599},
  doi = {10.3354/meps13230},
  abstract = {Size spectra are recommended tools for detecting the response of marine communities to fishing or to management measures. A size spectrum succinctly describes how a property, such as abundance or biomass, varies with body size in a community. Required data are often collected in binned form, such as numbers of individuals in 1 cm length bins. Numerous methods have been employed to fit size spectra, but most give biased estimates when tested on simulated data, and none account for the data's bin structure (breakpoints of bins). Here, we used 8 methods to fit an annual size-spectrum exponent, b, to an example data set (30 yr of the North Sea International Bottom Trawl Survey). The methods gave conflicting conclusions regarding b declining (the size spectrum steepening) through time, and so any resulting advice to ecosystem managers will be highly dependent upon the method used. Using simulated data, we showed that ignoring the bin structure gives biased estimates of b, even for high-resolution data. However, our extended likelihood method, which explicitly accounts for the bin structure, accurately estimated b and its confidence intervals, even for coarsely collected data. We developed a novel visualisation method that accounts for the bin structure and associated uncertainty, provide recommendations concerning different data types and have created an R package (sizeSpectra) to reproduce all results and encourage use of our methods. This work is also relevant to wider applications where a power-law distribution (the underlying distribution for a size spectrum) is fitted to binned data.},
  langid = {english},
  keywords = {Abundance size spectrum,Biomass size spectrum,Ecosystem indicators,Ecosystem-based fisheries management,Individual size distribution,Power-law distribution,Truncated Pareto distribution},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\VBM6QCLK\\Edwards et al. - 2020 - Accounting for the bin structure of data removes b.pdf}
}

@article{mcgarvey2018,
  title = {Seasonal Comparison of Community-Level Size-Spectra in Southern Coalfield Streams of {{West Virginia}} ({{USA}})},
  author = {McGarvey, Daniel J. and Kirk, Andrew J.},
  year = {2018},
  month = mar,
  journal = {Hydrobiologia},
  volume = {809},
  number = {1},
  pages = {65--77},
  issn = {1573-5117},
  doi = {10.1007/s10750-017-3448-0},
  abstract = {Inverse scaling relationships between average body mass (M) and density (D) have been reported in many lake and marine ecosystems but are less well documented in lotic systems. We used quantitative samples of benthic macroinvertebrate and fish D to model the D versus M (i.e., D {$\infty$} 1/M) relationship in central Appalachian streams of the eastern USA. Specifically, we used the ataxic `size-spectra' method (individuals identified only by size, not taxonomic identity, then aggregated within log2 M bins) to model D as a function of M. Repeat samples were collected from three study streams in March, May, August, and October, allowing us to test for seasonal differences in the slopes and intercepts of size-spectra models, using linear mixed-effects modeling. Size-spectra slopes were significantly different among months, decreasing from March (slope~=~-~1.73) to May (-~1.81), then increasing to August (-~1.62) and October (-~1.65). Intercepts also differed among months but showed the opposite trend: intercepts increased from March (intercept~=~0.51) to May (0.91), then decreased through August (0.44) and October (0.37). Size-spectra slopes and intercepts did not differ from the overall model parameters when estimated separately for macroinvertebrate and fish data. Finally, times series data on water temperature and discharge were used to show that size-spectra parameters may respond in predictable ways to the accumulation of degree days (i.e., the growing season) and to episodic flood events.},
  langid = {english}
}

@article{mcgarvey2019,
  title = {Modeling the {{Size Spectrum}} for {{Macroinvertebrates}} and {{Fishes}} in {{Stream Ecosystems}}},
  author = {McGarvey, Daniel J. and Woods, Taylor E. and Kirk, Andrew J.},
  year = {2019},
  month = jul,
  journal = {Journal of Visualized Experiments: JoVE},
  number = {149},
  issn = {1940-087X},
  doi = {10.3791/59945},
  abstract = {The size spectrum is an inverse, allometric scaling relationship between average body mass (M) and the density (D) of individuals within an ecological community or food web. Importantly, the size spectrum assumes that individual size, rather than species' behavioral or life history characteristics, is the primary determinant of abundance within an ecosystem. Thus, unlike traditional allometric relationships that focus on species-level data (e.g., mean species' body size vs. population density), size spectra analyses are 'ataxic' - individual specimens are identified only by their size, without consideration of taxonomic identity. Size spectra models are efficient representations of traditional, complex food webs and can be used in descriptive as well as predictive contexts (e.g., predicting responses of large consumers to changes in basal resources). Empirical studies from diverse aquatic ecosystems have also reported moderate to high levels of similarity in size spectra slopes, suggesting that common processes may regulate the abundances of small and large organisms in very different settings. This is a protocol to model the community-level size spectrum in wadable streams. The protocol consists of three main steps. First, collect quantitative benthic fish and invertebrate samples that can be used to estimate local densities. Second, standardize the fish and invertebrate data by converting all individuals to ataxic units (i.e., individuals identified by size, irrespective of taxonomic identity), and summing individuals within log2 size bins. Third, use linear regression to model the relationship between ataxic M and D estimates. Detailed instructions are provided herein to complete each of these steps, including custom software to facilitate D estimation and size spectra modeling.},
  langid = {english},
  pmid = {31424435},
  keywords = {Animals,Body Size,Ecosystem,Fishes,Food Chain,Hydrobiology,Invertebrates,Models; Biological,Models; Statistical,Population Density,Rivers},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\TYEFKXAT\\McGarvey et al. - 2019 - Modeling the Size Spectrum for Macroinvertebrates .pdf}
}

@misc{NEON_Inverts2022,
  title = {Macroinvertebrate Collection ({{DP1}}.20120.001)},
  author = {{National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)}},
  year = {2022},
  publisher = {{National Ecological Observatory Network (NEON)}},
  doi = {10.48443/GN8X-K322},
  langid = {english},
  keywords = {abundance,aquatic,archived samples,benthic,BMI,community composition,diversity,invertebrates,lakes,macroinvertebrates,material samples,population,rivers,species composition,streams,taxonomy,wadeable streams}
}

@article{ogorman2017,
  title = {Unexpected Changes in Community Size Structure in a Natural Warming Experiment},
  author = {O'Gorman, Eoin J. and Zhao, Lei and Pichler, Doris E. and Adams, Georgina and Friberg, Nikolai and Rall, Bj{\"o}rn C. and Seeney, Alex and Zhang, Huayong and Reuman, Daniel C. and Woodward, Guy},
  year = {2017},
  month = sep,
  journal = {Nature Climate Change},
  volume = {7},
  number = {9},
  pages = {659--663},
  issn = {1758-6798},
  doi = {10.1038/nclimate3368},
  abstract = {Natural ecosystems typically consist of many small and few large organisms1,2,3,4. The scaling of this negative relationship between body mass and abundance has important implications for resource partitioning and energy usage5,6,7. Global warming over the next century is predicted to favour smaller organisms8,9,10,11,12, producing steeper mass\textendash abundance scaling13 and a less efficient transfer of biomass through the food web5. Here, we show that the opposite effect occurs in a natural warming experiment involving 13 whole-stream ecosystems within the same catchment, which span a temperature gradient of 5\textendash 25 \textdegree C. We introduce a mechanistic model that shows how the temperature dependence of basal resource carrying capacity can account for these previously unexpected results. If nutrient supply increases with temperature to offset the rising metabolic demand of primary producers, there will be sufficient resources to sustain larger consumers at higher trophic levels. These new data and the model that explains them highlight important exceptions to some commonly assumed `rules' about responses to warming in natural ecosystems.},
  langid = {english},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\AFPB4B67\\O’Gorman et al. - 2017 - Unexpected changes in community size structure in .pdf}
}

@article{petchey2010,
  ids = {petchey2010b,petchey2010c,petchey2010d},
  title = {Body-Size Distributions and Size-Spectra: Universal Indicators of Ecological Status?},
  shorttitle = {Body-Size Distributions and Size-Spectra},
  author = {Petchey, Owen L. and Belgrano, Andrea},
  year = {2010},
  month = aug,
  journal = {Biology Letters},
  volume = {6},
  number = {4},
  pages = {434--437},
  publisher = {{Royal Society}},
  doi = {10.1098/rsbl.2010.0240},
  abstract = {The sizes of individual organisms, rather than their taxonomy, are used to inform management and conservation in some aquatic ecosystems. The European Science Foundation Research Network, SIZEMIC, facilitates integration of such approaches with the more taxonomic approaches used in terrestrial ecology. During its 4-year tenure, the Network is bringing together researchers from disciplines including theorists, empiricists, government employees, and practitioners, via a series of meetings, working groups and research visits. The research conducted suggests that organismal size, with a generous helping of taxonomy, provides the most probable route to universal indicators of ecological status.},
  keywords = {allometry,ecosystem assessment,taxonomy},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\5FXZKFML\\Petchey and Belgrano - 2010 - Body-size distributions and size-spectra universa.pdf;C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\E34G4QT9\\rsbl.2010.html}
}

@article{pomeranz2019,
  ids = {pomeranzAnthropogenicMiningAlters2019a,pomeranzAnthropogenicMiningAlters2019b},
  title = {Anthropogenic Mining Alters Macroinvertebrate Size Spectra in Streams},
  author = {Pomeranz, Justin P. F. and Warburton, Helen J. and Harding, Jon S.},
  year = {2019},
  journal = {Freshwater Biology},
  volume = {64},
  number = {1},
  pages = {81--92},
  publisher = {{John Wiley \& Sons, Ltd}},
  issn = {1365-2427},
  doi = {10.1111/fwb.13196},
  abstract = {Food web properties can be used in bioassessment as indicators of ecosystem stress, although logistical constraints restrict their widespread use. Size spectra (body mass\textendash abundance relationships) are easier to produce, still incorporate much of the variation in feeding interactions and indicate the strength of the energy transfer efficiency. Here we examined the effect of acid mine drainage on the size spectra of stream macroinvertebrate communities in 25 New Zealand streams with a comparative survey. We predicted that the largest organisms would be most susceptible to acid mine drainage, leading to a reduction in their abundances and associated decrease in the range of body sizes present across the gradient, as well as a reduction in total community abundance. The largest organisms were more sensitive to inputs of acid mine drainage and were absent at the most affected sites. Surprisingly, the smallest body sizes were also removed by acid mine drainage. This led to a reduction of up to two orders of magnitude in the range of body sizes present in mine impacted sites. Total community abundance decreased along the impact gradient. The changes in size spectra were also associated with changes in the proportion of functional feeding groups, suggesting concomitant changes in food web structure. Specifically, communities became dominated by collector browsers and small bodied predators across the gradient. The simplification of the food web structure suggests that communities may be dominated by a few strong energy pathways, lowering their functionality and stability. However, the loss of large bodied predators also reduces top down pressure, probably increasing community stability. Further research is needed to elucidate the cumulative effects of these interacting processes.},
  copyright = {\textcopyright{} 2018 John Wiley \& Sons Ltd.},
  langid = {english},
  keywords = {abundance size spectra,bioassessment,body-size distribution,community response,ecological indicators,human impacts},
  annotation = {\_eprint: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/fwb.13196},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\NPVWQJWZ\\Pomeranz et al. - 2019 - Anthropogenic mining alters macroinvertebrate size.pdf;C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\A5CTUR6C\\fwb.html}
}

@article{pomeranz2022,
  title = {Individual Size Distributions across {{North American}} Streams Vary with Local Temperature},
  author = {Pomeranz, Justin P. F. and Junker, James R. and Wesner, Jeff S.},
  year = {2022},
  month = feb,
  journal = {Global Change Biology},
  volume = {28},
  number = {3},
  pages = {848--858},
  issn = {1354-1013, 1365-2486},
  doi = {10.1111/gcb.15862},
  abstract = {Parameters describing the negative relationship between abundance and body size within ecological communities provide a summary of many important biological processes. While it is considered to be one of the few consistent patterns in ecology, spatiotemporal variation of this relationship across continental scale temperature gradients is unknown. Using a database of stream communities collected across North America (18\textendash\-68\textdegree N latitude, -4 to 25\textdegree C mean annual air temperature) over 3 years, we constructed 160 individual size distribution (ISD) relationships (i.e. abundance size spectra). The exponent parameter describing ISD's decreased (became steeper) with increasing mean annual temperature, with median slopes varying by \textasciitilde 0.2 units across the 29\textdegree C temperature gradient. In addition, total community biomass increased with increasing temperatures, contrary with theoretical predictions. Our study suggests conservation of ISD relationships in streams across broad natural environmental gradients. This supports the emerging use of size-\-spectra deviations as indicators of fundamental changes to the structure and function of ecological communities.},
  copyright = {All rights reserved},
  langid = {english},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\85UVHG44\\Pomeranz et al. - 2022 - Individual size distributions across North America.pdf}
}

@article{sprules2016,
  title = {Surfing the Biomass Size Spectrum: Some Remarks on History, Theory, and Application},
  shorttitle = {Surfing the Biomass Size Spectrum},
  author = {Sprules, William Gary and Barth, Lauren Emily},
  editor = {Giacomini, Henrique},
  year = {2016},
  month = apr,
  journal = {Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences},
  volume = {73},
  number = {4},
  pages = {477--495},
  issn = {0706-652X, 1205-7533},
  doi = {10.1139/cjfas-2015-0115},
  abstract = {Charles Elton introduced the ``pyramid of numbers'' in the late 1920s, but this remarkable insight into body-size dependent patterns in natural communities lay fallow until the theory of the biomass size spectrum was introduced by aquatic ecologists in the mid-1960s. They noticed that the summed biomass concentration of individual aquatic organisms was roughly constant across equal logarithmic intervals of body size from bacteria to the largest predators. These observations formed the basis for a theory of aquatic ecosystems, based on the body size of individual organisms, that revealed new insights into constraints on the structure of biological communities. In this review, we discuss the history of the biomass spectrum and the development of underlying theories. We indicate how to construct biomass spectra from sample data, explain the mathematical relations among them, show empirical examples of their various forms, and give details on how to statistically fit the most robust linear and nonlinear models to biomass spectra. We finish by giving examples of biomass spectrum applications to production and fisheries ecology and offering recommendations to help standardize use of the biomass spectrum in aquatic ecology.},
  langid = {english},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\U8CSA4CR\\Sprules and Barth - 2016 - Surfing the biomass size spectrum some remarks on.pdf}
}

@article{white2007,
  title = {Relationships between Body Size and Abundance in Ecology},
  author = {White, Ethan P. and Ernest, S.K. Morgan and Kerkhoff, Andrew J. and Enquist, Brian J.},
  year = {2007},
  month = jun,
  journal = {Trends in Ecology \& Evolution},
  volume = {22},
  number = {6},
  pages = {323--330},
  issn = {01695347},
  doi = {10.1016/j.tree.2007.03.007},
  langid = {english},
  file = {C\:\\Users\\jrjunker\\Zotero\\storage\\8PCGFP5V\\White et al. - 2007 - Relationships between body size and abundance in e.pdf}
}