Body size is a better predictor of intra-than interspecific variation of
animal stoichiometry across realms
Abstract
Animal stoichiometry influences critical processes from organismal
physiology to biogeochemical cycles. However, it remains uncertain
whether animal stoichiometry follows predictable scaling relationships
with body mass and whether adaptation to terrestrial or aquatic
environments constrains elemental allocation. We tested both
interspecific and intraspecific body-mass scaling relationships for
nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and N:P content using a subset of the
StoichLife database, which includes 9,933 individual animals across
1,543 species spanning 10 orders of magnitude in body mass from
terrestrial, freshwater, and marine realms. Our results show that body
mass predicts intraspecific stoichiometric variation, accounting for
42-45% of the variation in 27% of vertebrate and 35% of invertebrate
species. However, body mass was less effective at explaining
interspecific variation, with taxonomic identity emerging as a more
significant factor. Differences between aquatic and terrestrial
organisms were observed only in invertebrate interspecific %N,
suggesting that realm has a relatively minor influence on elemental
allocation. Our study, based on the most comprehensive animal
stoichiometry database to date, revealed that while body mass is a good
predictor of intraspecific elemental content, it is less effective for
interspecific patterns. This highlights the importance of evolutionary
history and taxonomic identity over general scaling laws in explaining
stoichiometric variation.