ABSTRACT
Allometric considerations for bioaccumulation have a more complex origin than those for toxicological allometry. By the 1970s, the emerging field of heavy metal ecotoxicology was generally characterized by an overabundance of data and a paucity of paradigms. Boyden was one of the first individuals in this field to attempt to define a general quantitative model of size effects on bioaccumulation and to formulate falsifiable hypotheses of underlying mechanisms. Allometric aspects of metal toxicity are often eliminated by use of a narrow range of size and/or age classes. This is done to enhance the precision of the toxicity test; however, most field populations are composed of individuals with a wide range of sizes. The growing need for heavy metal biomonitoring and relative ease of heavy metal quantification by the mid-1960s fostered the emergence of another large body of literature involving allometry and bioaccumulation.
