Year: 2016
Type: article
Abstract: Energy is a common currency of ecological interactions. In this dissertation, I consider ecological energetics at different temporal, spatial and organizational scales. In my first chapter, I examine the energetics and thermoregulation of an enigmatic taxon: dinosaurs. From fossil evidence and assessment of living vertebrates I conclude that many non-avian dinosaurs were likely thermally intermediate, or 'mesothermic'. In my second chapter I detail the empirical evidence gathered to buttress my claim of dinosaur mesothermy. In my third chapter, I show how ecosystem rates of carbon flux, gross primary production and total biomass can be linked to individual body size. In my fourth and final chapter I explore how differences in metabolism and thermoregulation lead to predictable difference in marine predator biogeography, diversity and food consumption at ecosystem scales. A focus on organismal energetics offers insight into ecological interactions across space and time.
Author: John M. Grady
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
Open Access status: green
Awards: G102163711, GeoSoilEnviroCARS: A National Resource for Earth, Planetary, Soil and Environmental Science Research at the APS, G107546177, CAREER: Effects of Hydration on the Physical Properties of Mantle Materials from Atomic to Geophysical Scales, Combining Theories For Plant Architecture, Allometry, and Traits to Develop the Next Generation of Scaling Theory, G1286251239, G1313983767, G132563423, G1336448005, G1572106353, GEOSOILENVIROCARS: A NATIONAL RESOURCE FOR EARTH, PLANETARY, SOIL AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AT THE ADVANCED PHOTON SOURCE, G1664757510, G1996433053, G2025663771, G222768804, G262962599, G3075337988, G3318903820, G338944111, GEO CARS: A NATIONAL RESOURCE FOR EARTH, PLANETARY AND ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE RESEARCH AT THE ADVANCED PHOTON SOURCE, G4155429592, G426311843, G4707123693, G486686280, G513797252, G526033868, G5292656900, G5387317844, Collaborative Research: Experimental Macroecology: Effects of Temperature on Biodiversity, G549834383, G5535608740, G5648016710, G6671297155, G6848031779, G7583137537, Estimating global subduction mass transport, G8507651203, G969889393
OpenAlex ID: W2530552653