Log-Log and Semi-Log Plots

A log-log plot is a graph in which quantities along both axes are distributed logarithmically. In other words, intervals of equal length along an axis have the same ratio of their top and bottom values, rather than the same difference, as would be found along an ordinary arithmetic axis. So taking logarithms allows things that multiply or divide to add or subtract instead. Why do we see lots of data sets that make straight lines on log-log plots in ecology (e.g. Figures 9.19, 9.20, 9.21, and 10.11 in the text)? This happens when the mathematical function y(x) = axb (where a and b are constants), a relationship known as a power function, adequately describes the data. Taking logarithms of both sides results in log(y) = log(a) + b(log(x)). This is a linear relationship between log(y) and log(x), so a plot of log(y) vs log(x) produces a straight line with slope b and intercept log(a). Consider the plot of herbivore density (H) vs body size (S) in Figure 9.19. Because this is a straight line on a plot of log(H) vs log(S), the power function H = aSb adequately characterizes this relationship. Take a look at how this works in the other figures indicated above. Often the slope (b) in log-log plots has special importance, as well see when we get to self thinning in Chapter 13. A semi-log plot is a graph in which the quantity along the y axis is distributed logarithmically, and the quantity along the x axis is distributed in the usual arithmetic way. When data sets approximate straight lines on semi-log plots (e.g. see type II survivorship in Figures 10.16 and 10.18), either of two mathematically interchangeable relationships adequately describes the data: y(x) = cedx or y(x) = ckx (where c, d, and k are constants). These are known respectively as exponential and geometric functions. The constant e is the base of natural logarithms, a number that is approximately 2.718. For the first of these equations, its slightly simpler if we take the natural log (ln) of both sizes, resulting in ln(y) = ln(c) + dx. This is a linear relationship between ln(y) and x, plotting as a straight line with slope d and intercept ln(c). For the other equation, any old logarithm will do: log(y) = log(c) + x(log(k)). Again, weve got a straight line on a plot of log(y) against x, but here with slope log(k) and intercept log(c). Note that semi-log plots of survivorship make the distinctions among types I, II, and III immediately clear. But semi-log plots can generate straight lines with positive slopes as well, such as those that result from geometric or exponential growth (see Chapter 11). If Figures 11.3, 11.5, and 11.6 had been semi-log rather than arithmetic plots, the data would have formed straight lines, and the slopes would be the per-capita increase rates. The slope from the semi-log plot of a type II survivorship curve is the per-capita mortality rate. So what are you responsible for learning from this supplement? Since I dont expect us to do anything explicit with power functions in the rest of this course (though its hard to get far in physiology without them), I wont test you on the significance of straight lines on log-log plots or the associated algebra. I do want you to know that relationships of the form y(x) = cedx and y(x) = ckx plot as straight lines on semi-log graphs and to know examples of these relationships from the material on population dynamics and growth. I expect you to be able to recognize a semi-log plot and to be able to interpret the slopes of such graphs appropriately.