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The Brown Lab
Interdisciplinary Biology, Community Ecology, Biogeography, Allometry
Department of Biology (click)
University of New Mexico (click)
"The lab is a loose confederation of independent scientists, pursuing their own ideas and interests, offering plenty of interaction and opportunity for collaboration. Students generate, design and conduct their own independent research projects - that may or may not be related to my research programs"- James H. Brown
The Brown Lab has a long history of research in biogeography and it has been a center for the development of macroecology, a large-scale statistical approach to questions about abundance, distribution, and diversity.
Current research is focused primarily in two areas: theoretical studies of allometric scaling and empirical studies of community structure and dynamics. Research on scaling is focused on the theoretical basis and ecological consequences of body size. In collaboration with Geoffrey West of The Santa Fe Institute , we have developed a general model, based on the fractal geometry and hydrodynamics, of branching resource distribution networks (e.g., plant vascular and mammalian cardiovascular and respiratory systems) for the universal fourth-power allometric scaling observed in biological systems.
This model provides the theoretical basis for investigating the empirical patterns of allometric scaling in such ecological and evolutionary characteristics as life span, fecundity, energy and resource use, territory or home range size, and population growth rate and density in both plants and animals.
Information contained in this document is © copyright James H. Brown, 2007. All rights reserved.
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