Some aspects of the analysis of size spectra in aquatic ecology

The established approach to model seston size distributions involves the grouping of particles within logarithmic size classes and the examination of the relationship between density, or normalized biomass, and the characteristic sizes of the classes. Here we examine the distributional basis of the established approach and draw a connection between the biomass size spectrum and the Pareto distribution, a model widely used in other disciplines dealing with size-structured systems. We provide efficient estimators of the parameters and also suggest that datasets exhibiting significant departures from a smooth power function decline can be adequately modeled using a Pareto type II distribution.