Consequences of nonequilibrium resource availability across multiple time scales: the transient maxima hypothesis
Article Abstract:
Nonequilibrium or transitory biotic responses of ecosystems to resource limitation and their influence on the structure and characteristics of ecosystems were investigated. The study focused on tallgrass prairie ecosystems in North America, which are subjected to periodic variations in resource availability. The transient maxima hypothesis was proposed to explain variations in biotic responses such as short-term and long-term plant productivity, productivity patterns of consumer groups and amounts of accumulated soil organic matter.
Publication Name: The American Naturalist
Subject: Earth sciences
ISSN: 0003-0147
Year: 1993
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Refining the motor training hypothesis for the evolution of play
Article Abstract:
The motor training hypothesis proposes that the function of play is a suitable modification of the maturing neuromuscular system. A study of literature on anatomical and physiological effect of exercise in mammals shows that most effects of exercise are transitory. Two aftereffects of exer cise, however, seem to be permanent but are available only during a short part of postnatal development. These are modification of cerebellar synaptogenesis and of skeletal muscle fiber type differentiation.
Publication Name: The American Naturalist
Subject: Earth sciences
ISSN: 0003-0147
Year: 1995
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The pollen donation hypothesis revisited: a response to Queller
Article Abstract:
Queller (1997) has contended that the results of Broyles and Wyatt's (1990, 1995) studies of field and experimental populations of 'Asclepias exaltata' are invalid because of the absence of necessary controls. However, it is asserted that it is his argument that is flawed because he did not correctly understand the studies' experimental designs and protocols. Queller's own evidence supporting the pollen donation hypothesis also includes a number of technical problems and serious ambiguities.
Publication Name: The American Naturalist
Subject: Earth sciences
ISSN: 0003-0147
Year: 1997
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