Data from: Increased energy promotes size-based niche availability in marine mollusks

Variation in chemical energy, i.e., food, availability is posited to cause variation in body size. However, examinations of the relationship are rare and primarily limited to amniotes and zooplankton. Moreover, the relationship between body size and chemical energy may be impacted by phylogenetic history, clade specific ecology, and heterogeneity of chemical energy in space and time. Considerable work remains to both document patterns in body size over gradients in food availability and understanding the processes potentially generating them. Here, we examine the functional relationship between body size and chemical energy availability over a broad assortment of marine mollusks varying in habitat and mobility. We demonstrate that chemical energy availability is likely driving body size patterns across habitats. We find that lower food availability decreases size-based niche availability by setting hard constraints on maximum size and potentially on minimum size depending on clade-specific ecology. Conversely, higher food availability promotes greater niche availability and potentially promotes evolutionary innovation with regard to size. We posit based on these findings and previous work that increases in chemical energy are important to the diversification of Metazoans through size-mediated niche processes.

化学能（chemical energy，即食物资源）的可获得性差异被认为会导致生物体体型的变化。然而，针对这一关联的研究较为匮乏，且研究对象主要局限于羊膜动物（amniotes）与浮游动物（zooplankton）类群。此外，体型与化学能可获得性之间的关联可能受到系统发育历史、支系特异性生态特征，以及化学能在时空分布上的异质性的影响。目前仍有大量研究工作亟待开展：既要梳理食物可获得性梯度下的体型分布模式，也要解析可能催生这些模式的背后过程。本研究针对生境与运动方式各异的多样海洋软体动物类群，探究了体型与化学能可获得性之间的功能关联。研究结果表明，化学能可获得性很可能是驱动不同生境下体型分布模式的核心因素。我们发现，较低的食物可获得性会通过对最大体型施加硬性限制，并依据支系特异性生态特征对最小体型施加潜在限制，从而降低基于体型的生态位可获得性。与之相反，较高的食物可获得性则会提升生态位可获得性，并可能推动与体型相关的演化创新。基于本研究结果与既往研究，我们提出：化学能供给的提升通过体型介导的生态位过程，对后生动物（Metazoans）的物种分化具有重要意义。