Scaling relationships, including power laws, provide quantitative predictions used in basic and applied sciences. We investigated scaling relationships between catchment area and lake surface area, the ratio of which has important implications for terrestrial-aquatic linkages. Synthesizing evidence from 9 datasets from three continents, we show that there is an approximately linear relationship between lake surface area and catchment area, and that reservoirs and other human-made lakes tend to have larger catchments than natural lakes. Using the example of DOC export from forested catchments, we illustrate how the relationships observed in this study can be used to provide first-order estimates of ecosystem processes coupling lakes and their catchments.

中文翻译：

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湖泊表面积与流域面积的标度关系

标度关系，包括幂律，提供用于基础和应用科学的定量预测。我们调查了集水区和湖泊表面积之间的比例关系，其比例对陆地 - 水生联系具有重要意义。综合来自三大洲的 9 个数据集的证据，我们表明湖泊表面积和流域面积之间存在近似线性关系，并且水库和其他人造湖泊的流域往往比天然湖泊更大。使用从森林集水区导出 DOC 的示例，我们说明了本研究中观察到的关系如何用于提供耦合湖泊及其集水区的生态系统过程的一阶估计。