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Where the ecological gaps remain, a modelers' perspective
Citation
Fulton, EA and Blanchard, JL and Melbourne-Thomas, J and Plaganyi, EE and Tulloch, VJD, Where the ecological gaps remain, a modelers' perspective, Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution, 7 Article 424. ISSN 2296-701X (2019) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
Copyright 2019 Fulton, Blanchard, Melbourne-Thomas, Plagányi and Tulloch. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY).
DOI: doi:10.3389/fevo.2019.00424
Abstract
Humans have observed the natural world and how people interact with it for millennia.
Over the past century, synthesis and expansion of that understanding has occurred
under the banner of the "new" discipline of ecology. The mechanisms considered operate
in and between many different scales—from the individual and short time frames, up
through populations, communities, land/seascapes and ecosystems. Whereas, some of
these scales have been more readily studied than others—particularly the population to
regional landscape scales—over the course of the past 20 years new unifying insights
have been possible via the application of ideas from new perspectives, such as the
fields of complexity and network theory. At any sufficiently large gathering (and with
sufficient lubrication) discussions over whether ecologists will ever uncover unifying laws
and what they may look like still persist. Any pessimism expressed tends to grow from
acknowledgment that gaping holes still exist in our understanding of the natural world
and its functioning, especially at the smallest and grandest scales. Conceptualization of
some fundamental ideas, such as evolution, are also undergoing review as global change
presents levels of directional pressure on ecosystems not previously seen in recorded
history. New sensor and monitoring technologies are opening up new data streams at
volumes that can seem overwhelming but also provide an opportunity for a profusion of
new discoveries by marrying data across scales in volumes hitherto infeasible. As with
so many aspects of science and life, now is an exciting time to be an ecologist.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Keywords: | ecology, scale, modeling, anthropocene, challenges |
| Research Division: | Biological Sciences |
| Research Group: | Ecology |
| Research Field: | Marine and estuarine ecology (incl. marine ichthyology) |
| Objective Division: | Animal Production and Animal Primary Products |
| Objective Group: | Environmentally sustainable animal production |
| Objective Field: | Environmentally sustainable animal production not elsewhere classified |
| UTAS Author: | Fulton, EA (Dr Elizabeth Fulton) |
| UTAS Author: | Blanchard, JL (Professor Julia Blanchard) |
| UTAS Author: | Melbourne-Thomas, J (Dr Jessica Melbourne-Thomas) |
| UTAS Author: | Plaganyi, EE (Dr Eva Plaganyi-Lloyd) |
| ID Code: | 150627 |
| Year Published: | 2019 |
| Deposited By: | Directorate |
| Deposited On: | 2022-06-23 |
| Last Modified: | 2022-07-28 |
| Downloads: | 4 View Download Statistics |
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