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On the thermodynamic origin of metabolic scaling

Publicated to:Scientific Reports. 8 (1): 1448- - 2018-12-01 8(1), DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-19853-6

Authors: Ballesteros F; Martinez V; Luque B; Lacasa L; Valor E; Moya A

Affiliations

Escuela Tecnica Superior de Ingenieros de Telecomunicacion, Madrid - Author
Queen Mary Univ London, Sch Math Sci, Mile End Rd, London E1 4NS, England - Author
Queen Mary, University of London - Author
Univ Politecn Madrid, ETSI Aeronaut, Dept Matemat Aplicada & Estadist, Madrid, Spain - Author
Univ Valencia, Dept Fis Terra & Termodinam, Valencia, Spain - Author
Univ Valencia, Inst Biol Integrat Sistemas, CSIC, Parque Cient Univ Valencia, Paterna, Spain - Author
Univ Valencia, Observ Astron, Parque Cient Univ Valencia, Paterna, Spain - Author
Universitat de València - Author
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Abstract

The origin and shape of metabolic scaling has been controversial since Kleiber found that basal metabolic rate of animals seemed to vary as a power law of their body mass with exponent 3/4, instead of 2/3, as a surface-to-volume argument predicts. The universality of exponent 3/4 -claimed in terms of the fractal properties of the nutrient network- has recently been challenged according to empirical evidence that observed a wealth of robust exponents deviating from 3/4. Here we present a conceptually simple thermodynamic framework, where the dependence of metabolic rate with body mass emerges from a trade-off between the energy dissipated as heat and the energy efficiently used by the organism to maintain its metabolism. This balance tunes the shape of an additive model from which different effective scalings can be recovered as particular cases, thereby reconciling previously inconsistent empirical evidence in mammals, birds, insects and even plants under a unified framework. This model is biologically motivated, fits remarkably well the data, and also explains additional features such as the relation between energy lost as heat and mass, the role and influence of different climatic environments or the difference found between endotherms and ectotherms.

Keywords

AnimalsBasal metabolismBiochemical phenomenaBiologyBmrBody sizeBody-massEnergy-metabolismMammalsModelModels, biologicalSizeStatistical artifactTemperatureThermodynamics

Quality index

Bibliometric impact. Analysis of the contribution and dissemination channel

The work has been published in the journal Scientific Reports due to its progression and the good impact it has achieved in recent years, according to the agency WoS (JCR), it has become a reference in its field. In the year of publication of the work, 2018, it was in position 15/69, thus managing to position itself as a Q1 (Primer Cuartil), in the category Multidisciplinary Sciences.

From a relative perspective, and based on the normalized impact indicator calculated from World Citations from Scopus Elsevier, it yields a value for the Field-Weighted Citation Impact from the Scopus agency: 1.13, which indicates that, compared to works in the same discipline and in the same year of publication, it ranks as a work cited above average. (source consulted: ESI Nov 14, 2024)

This information is reinforced by other indicators of the same type, which, although dynamic over time and dependent on the set of average global citations at the time of their calculation, consistently position the work at some point among the top 50% most cited in its field:

  • Field Citation Ratio (FCR) from Dimensions: 4.55 (source consulted: Dimensions Jun 2025)

Specifically, and according to different indexing agencies, this work has accumulated citations as of 2025-06-09, the following number of citations:

  • WoS: 28
  • Scopus: 44
  • Europe PMC: 8
  • OpenCitations: 38

Impact and social visibility

From the perspective of influence or social adoption, and based on metrics associated with mentions and interactions provided by agencies specializing in calculating the so-called "Alternative or Social Metrics," we can highlight as of 2025-06-09:

  • The use, from an academic perspective evidenced by the Altmetric agency indicator referring to aggregations made by the personal bibliographic manager Mendeley, gives us a total of: 184.
  • The use of this contribution in bookmarks, code forks, additions to favorite lists for recurrent reading, as well as general views, indicates that someone is using the publication as a basis for their current work. This may be a notable indicator of future more formal and academic citations. This claim is supported by the result of the "Capture" indicator, which yields a total of: 184 (PlumX).

With a more dissemination-oriented intent and targeting more general audiences, we can observe other more global scores such as:

  • The Total Score from Altmetric: 55.14.
  • The number of mentions on the social network X (formerly Twitter): 38 (Altmetric).

It is essential to present evidence supporting full alignment with institutional principles and guidelines on Open Science and the Conservation and Dissemination of Intellectual Heritage. A clear example of this is:

  • The work has been submitted to a journal whose editorial policy allows open Open Access publication.
  • Assignment of a Handle/URN as an identifier within the deposit in the Institutional Repository: https://oa.upm.es/86428/

As a result of the publication of the work in the institutional repository, statistical usage data has been obtained that reflects its impact. In terms of dissemination, we can state that, as of

  • Views: 48
  • Downloads: 7

Leadership analysis of institutional authors

This work has been carried out with international collaboration, specifically with researchers from: United Kingdom.