The MacroEcological Theory on the Arrangement of Life
Modeled biodiversity of the epipelagic zone based on the METAL theory. From Beaugrand and colleagues (2015) Nature Climate Change.
The MacroEcological Theory on the Arrangement of Life is a theory that explains how life is arranged in the sea and how changing environmental conditions alter biological arrangements in space and time at different organisational levels (e.g. species, community, ecosystem), allowing precise predictions to be tested. METAL proposes that biodiversity is to a large extent influenced by climate and the environment. This influence mainly takes place through the interactions between the species ecological niche (sensu Hutchinson) and both climatic and environmental changes. This interaction determines in large part the arrangement of life in the oceans at different organisational levels from the species to the ecosystem level and from small to large ecosystems.
The METAL theory is introduced in the book published by Dr Grégory Beaugrand "Marine biodiversity, climatic variability and global change" (2015, EarthScan, 471 pages).
The METAL theory is introduced in the book published by Dr Grégory Beaugrand "Marine biodiversity, climatic variability and global change" (2015, EarthScan, 471 pages).
A two-dimensional niche
© Dr Grégory Beaugrand
© Dr Grégory Beaugrand