Energy equivalence and asymmetric competition for light in closed forests

The role of body size in governing energy use at community and macroecological scales is a contested issue. Some evidence suggests that, when considered collectively for a species, organisms of various body sizes are equivalent in their ability to capture resources for metabolism. I explore ‘energy equivalence’ in trees, focusing on the role of asymmetric availability of light in a closed canopy forests (i.e., bigger trees get more light). Advances in remote sensing will extend our analyses and help ecologists test fundamental issues in how communities are organized and the competitive significance of organismal size.