Fig. 2: Allometric scaling for zero-order processes.
From: Superlinear scaling of riverine biogeochemical function with watershed size
Cumulative biogeochemical function vs. watershed area when aquatic processes are zero-order, wherein material concentrations in the water column do not influence local areal process rates. Each line represents a different stream network, characterized by distinct network geomorphology and river hydraulics (n = 27) for each value of local scaling (m.local); network parameters used to generate cumulative functions are described in Supplementary Table 1. Line colors represent potential local scaling of areal process rate with increasing river size (y = bAm.local), where m.local = −0.5 (black), 0 (blue), or 0.5 (orange dash), representing declining, constant, or increasing local rates, respectively, with increasing river size. Red dashed line indicates linear cumulative scaling. Superlinearity occurs due to scaling of benthic surface area (Supplementary Fig. 1) and is attenuated or accentuated by the relationship of local process rate with river size.
