Notes posted on-line

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• Notes posted on-line
• Examples of Bios on-line
• Email comments this week (Mayr, Elliot and
  Brook)
• Please dont send as attachments

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Ecological research today is undertaken to
(class poll)

• To increase basic understanding of natural world
  and enable predictions (basic curiosity)

• To meet societal demands for answers to
  environmental problems

• To meet management needs

• To meet conservation needs

• To meet restoration needs

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How is Ecology done today? (Ives et al. Ecology
1996)
Ecological methods Theoretical Field
observation Field manipulation Lab studies Class
poll?
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Roush 1995 Science
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"The aim of science is to seek the simplest
explanation of complex facts. ...Seek simplicity
and distrust it." --A. N. Whitehead, The Concept
of Nature
Definition of Ecology? (class) Is Ecology like
other sciences? How does Ecology fit in with
other sciences? What is unique about Ecology?
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"The purpose of science is to find order in the
chaos of natural phenomena. Science attempts to
represent nature as simply and accurately as
possible with natural laws.--George Abell,
Exploration of the Universe, 1969.
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"The aim of science is to seek the simplest
explanation of complex facts Why the search for
simplicity?
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Simplicity generality Consider The First Law
of Thermodynamics (Conservation) energy is
always conserved, it cannot be created or
destroyed. Very powerful
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Ecological Law of Intermediate Disturbance
diversity in a community is always highest at
intermediate levels of disturbance
Connell 1978
Hundreds of cases of support for this law
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But the law has to be more specific (less
simple) to be universally true.either the
systems it works in must be specified or
exceptions listed fire in the fynbos of S.
Africa or in dry forests (below) or.
Are their universal laws in Ecology? A topic
for later Ecology is NOT simple
Lack of simplicity renders law explanatory not
predictive and much less powerful
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How is ecological research done? Scientific
inquiry in general has been influenced
by Ideasfrom Francis Bacon, Karl Popper and
Thomas Kuhnall wrote from the perspective of the
Physical Sciences Bacon inductive
method.accumulate lots of data/observations and
generalize to theory of how nature works.
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Popper theory must precede observation Must
first have new theory to guide data collection
which can potentially falsify old theory
Hypothetico-deductive approach Theory must
make specific predictions that, if found to be
not true, falsifies the theory.
A thousand studies can never prove me right, but
one can prove me wrong.
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Kuhn recognized the role of bias (cultural and
contextural) in science Paradigms the accepted
way science is done the coherent tradition of
science including methods, past data, concepts,
theories, preconceptions, explanations. Or A
constellation of concepts, ideas, approaches, and
principles shared and used by a scientific
community to define research problems and
solutions.
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Working under the prevailing paradigm, science
only provides details on how the world worksthe
paradigm determines what should be studied and
how it is studied. Also defines how scientists
are trained. This is bias of context
Paradigms can constrain scientific progress
Crisis state occurs when data accumulate that
dont fit the theory or concepts on which the
paradigm is based. Result?
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New paradigms emerge, compete, and eventually one
wins and then its back to normal science
providing details. Process of Scientific
Revolutions where major advances are madeMany
argue that Ecology doesnt correspond to this
pathway But some truth to this as wellmuch
back filling in Ecology!
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Paradigms in science can create peer- pressure
Darwins scientific approach was eclectic.but
publicly he was a strong inductivist(accepted
mode at the time)
I patiently accumulated and reflected on all
sorts of factsAfter five years of work, I
allowed myself to speculate I arrived at
these principles only at the close of my
observations
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But Darwin wrote privately Let theory guide
your observations, but till your reputation is
well established, be sparing in publishing your
theory. It makes people doubt your
observations. He actually used observation,
theory, experimentation, induction and deduction
in any number of sequences
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Progress in Ecology occurs though a combination
of approaches like most sciences But there is
no one right way to advance our understanding
in the field of Ecology
Naively simple formulations of The Way To Do
Science are harmless in themselves, but have
unfortunate consequences when they inspire
doctrinal vigilantes to ride the boundaries of a
discipline, culling the sinners. -- R.M. May 1981
How does Ecology fit in with other sciences?
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Ultimate Interdisciplinary Science
Ecology
Derivative Interdisciplinary Sciences
Geology Atm. Sci. Hydrology (Earth Sciences)
Physics Chemistry Biology
Core Natural Sciences Messy
SCIENCE
Note arrows are, for the most part, unidirectiona
l
Logic Math
Pure Sciences
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All the sciences are connected, they lend each
other material aid as parts of one great whole,
each doing its own work, not for itself alone,
but for the other parts. -Roger Bacon (1200s)
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What is unique about Ecology? (and why it
differs from Physics and Chemisty)

• Results from experiments are frequently
  non-repeatable

• Focus on the observable (intermediate scale),
  even though some critical features (e.g. niche)
  are often unmeasurable

• Extremely interdisciplinary

• Importance of history (and contingency)