Abstract
Ecology is a pluralistic science (McIntosh 1985, 1987; Cherrett 1989 Dodson 1998). Pluralism can be explained by the following hypotheses: It is a result of recent diversification. Applications in environmental sciences lead to differentiation within an accepted theoretical framework (centrifugal model).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Abbot D (1983) The biographical dictionary of scientists. biologists. Blond Educational, London
Allen TFH, Hoekstra TW (1990) The confusion between scale-defined levels and conventional levels of organisation. J Vegetable Sci 1:5–12
Allen TFH, Hoekstra TW (1992) Toward a unified ecology. Columbia University Press, Columbia
Allen TFH, O‘Neill RV et al (1984) Interlevel relations in ecological research and management: some working principles from hierarchy theory. USDA, Forest Service, General Technical Report RM-110
Andrewartha HG, Birch LC (1954) The distribution and abundance of animals. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Anker P (2001) Imperial ecology: the environmental order of the British Empire, 1895-1945. Harvard University Press, Cambridge
Arrhenius O (1921) Species and area. J Ecol 9:95–99
Bartha S, Czaran T et al (1998) Exploring plant community dynamics in abstract coenostate spaces. Abstracta Bot 22:49–66
Begon M, Harper JL et al (1986) Ecology: individuals, populations and communities. Blackwell, Sunderland
Bormann FH, Likens G (1967) Nutrient cycling. Science 155:424–429
Box EO (1981) Macroclimate and plant form: an introduction to predictive modelling in phytogeography. Junk, the Hague
Braun-Blanquet J (1927) Pflanzensoziologie. Bornträger, Berlin
Bray JR, Curtis JT (1957) An ordination of the Upland Forest Communities of Southern Wisconsin. Ecol Monogr 27:325–349
Bremekamp CEB (1952) Linné’s significance for the development of phytogeography. Taxon 2:47–54
Carpenter S, Kitchell JF (1988) Strong manipulations and complex interactions: consumer control of lake productivity. Bioscience 38:764–769
CBD (1992). from www.biodiv.org
Cherrett JM (1989) Key concepts: the result of a survey of our members’ opinions. In: Cherrett JM (ed) Ecological concepts: the contribution of ecology in understanding of the natural world. Blackwell, Oxford, pp 1–16
Cittadino E (1980) Ecology and the professionalization of botany in America, 1890-1905. Stud Hist Biol 4:171–198
Clements FE (1916) Plant succession. An analysis of the development of vegetation. Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, DC
Connell JH (1961) The influence of interspecific competition and other factors on the distribution of the Barnacle Chthamalus stellatus. Ecology 42:710–723
Connell JH, Slatyer RO (1977) Mechnisms of succession in natural communities and their role in community stability and organization. Am Nat 111:1119–1144
Connor EF, McCoy ED (1979) The statistics and biology of the species-area relationship. Am Nat 113:791–833
Connor EF, Simberloff D (1979) The assembly of species communities: chance or competition? Ecology 60:1132–1140
De Wit C (1962) On competition. Pudoc, Wageningen
Delcourt HR, Delcourt PA et al (1983) Dynamic plant ecology: the spectrum of vegetational change in space and time. Q Sci Rev 1:153–175
Diamond JM (1975) Assembly rules of species communities. In: Cody ML, Diamond JM (eds) Ecology and evolution of communities. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, pp 342–444
Dice LR (1955) What is ecology? Sci Monogr 80:346–351
Dodson S (ed) (1998) Ecology. Oxford University Press, Oxford
DuRietz GE (1957) Linnaeus as a phytogeographer. Vegetatio 6:161–168
Egerton FN (1968) Studies on animal populations from Lamarck to Darwin. J Hist Biol 3:225–259
Egerton FN (1969) Ricardo Bradley’s understanding of biological productivity: a study of eighteenth-century ecological ideas. J Hist Biol 2:391–410
Egerton FN (1973) Changing concepts of the balance of nature. Q Rev Biol 48:322–350
Egerton FN (1976) Ecological studies and observations before 1900. In: Taylor BJ, White TJ (eds) Issues and ideas in America. University of Oklahoma Press, Oklahoma, pp 311–351
Egerton FN (1977) A bibliographical guide to the history of general ecology and population biology. Hist Sci 15:189–215
Egerton FN (1983) The history of ecology: achievements and opportunities, part one. J Hist Biol 16:259–310
Egler FE (1942) Vegetation as an object of study. Philos Sci 9:245–260
Elton C (1927) Animal ecology. Methuen, London
Fenchel T (1987) Ecology potentials and limitations. International Ecology Institute, Oldendorf
Fisher RA, Corbet AS et al (1944) The relation between the number of species and the number of individuals in a random sample of an animal population. J Anim Ecol 12:42–58
Forman RTT, Godron M (1996) Landscape ecology. Wiley, New York
Gaston KJ, Blackburn TM (1999) A critique for macroecology. Oikos 84:353–368
Gates D (1980) Biophysical ecology. Springer, New York
Gauch HG (1982) Multivariate analysis in community ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Gause GF (1934) The struggle for existence. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore
Gleason HA (1926) The individualistic concept of the plant associations. Bull Torrey Bot Club 53:7–26
Gnauck A (2002) Automatentheorie in der Ökologie. In: Gnauck A (ed) Systemtheorie und Modellierung von Ökosystemen. Physica, Berlin, pp 32–48
Golley FB (1993) A history of the ecosystem concept in ecology: more than the sum of the parts. Yale University Press, New Haven
Goodland RJ (1975) The tropical origin of ecology: Eugen Warming´s Jubilee. Oikos 26:240–245
Goodman D (1975) The theory of diversity-stability relationships in ecology. Q Rev Biol 50:237–266
Gotelli NJ, Graves GR (1996) Null models in ecology. Smithsonian Institution Press, Washington, DC
Green RH (1979) Sampling design and statistical methods for environmental biologists. Wiley-Interscience, New York
Grime JP (1979) Plant strategies and vegetation processes. Wiley, Chichester
Hagen JB (1992) An entangled bank: the origins of ecosystem ecology. Rutgers University Press, New Brunswick
Hairston N, Frederick G et al (1960) Community structure, population control, and competition. Am Nat 94:421–425
Harper JL (1967) A Darwinian approach to plant ecology. J Ecol 55:247–270
Harper JL (1975) Population ecology of plants. Academic, New York
Harper JL (1982) After Description. In: Newmann EI (ed) The plant community as a working mechanism. Blackwell, London, pp 11–25
Harvey PH, Colwell RK et al (1983) Null models in ecology. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 14:189–211
Hauhs M, Lange H (1996) Ecosystem dynamics viewed from an endoperspective. Sci Total Environ 183:125–136
Hubbell SP (2001) The Unified Neutral Theory of biodiversity and biogeography. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Huffaker CB (1958) Experimentals studies on predation: dispersion factors and Predator-Prey Oscillations. Hilgardia 27:343–383
Hurlbert SH (1990) Spatial distribution of the montane unicorn. Oikos 58:257–271
Hutchinson GE (1957) Concluding remarks, population studies: animal ecology and demography. Cold Spring Harb Symp Quant Biol 22:415–427
Jahn I, Löther R et al (eds) (1985) Geschichte der Biologie. Theorien, Methoden, Institutionen und Kurzbiographien. Fischer, Jena
Jansen AJ (1972) An analysis of “Balance of Nature” as an ecological concept. Acta Biotheor 21:86–114
Jax K, Jones CG et al (1998) The self-identity of ecological units. Oikos 82:253–264
Jax K, Potthast T et al (1996) Skalierung und Prognoseunsicherheit bei ökologischen Systemen. Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Ökologie 26:527–535
Jones CG (ed) (1995) Linking species and ecosystems. Chapman & Hall, New York
Jørgensen SE (1992) Integration of ecosystems theories: a pattern. Kluwer, Dordrecht
Juhász-Nagy P, Podani J (1983) Information theory methods for the study of spatial processes and succession. Vegetatio 51:129–140
Keller DR, Golley FB (eds) (2000) From science to synthesis. Readings in the foundational concepts of the science of ecology. University of Georgia Press, Athens
Kingsland SE (1985) Modelling nature. Episodes in the history of population ecology. University of Chicago Press, Chicago
Klötzli F (1989) Ökosysteme. Fischer, Stuttgart
Kolasa J, Pickett STA (1989) Ecological systems and the concept of biological organisation. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 86:8837–8841
Kolasa J, Pickett STA (eds) (1991) Ecological heterogeneity. Ecological studies. Springer, New York
Krebs CJ (1975) Ecology. The experimental analysis of distribution and abundance. Harper Collins, New York
Krebs CJ, Davies NB (1993) An introduction to behavioural ecology. Blackwell, London
Krebs CJ (1995) Ecology. The experimental analysis of distribution and abundance. Harper Collins, New York
Kuhn TS (1976) Die Struktur wissenschaftlicher Revolutionen. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt
Küppers G, Lundgreen P et al (1978) Umweltforschung - die gesteuerte Wissenschaft? Eine empirische Studie zum Verhältnis von Wissenschaftsentwicklung und Wissenschaftspolitik. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt
Lakatos I (1978) Die Geschichte der Wissenschaft und ihre rationale Rekonstruktion. In: Diederich W (ed) Theorien der Wissenschaftsgeschichte. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt, pp 55–119
Legendre P (1993) Spatial autocorrelation: trouble or new paradigm? Ecology 74:1659–1673
Leslie PH (1945) On the use matrices in certain population mathematics. Biometrika 33:183–212
Levins R, Lewontin R (1980) Dialectics and reductionism in ecology. Synthese 43:47–78
Lindemann RL (1942) The trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology. Ecology 23:339–418
Lowe PD (1976) Amateurs and professionals: the institutional emergence of British plant ecology. J Soc Bibliogr Nat Hist 7:517–535
Lussenhop J (1974) Victor Hensen and the development of sampling methods in ecology. J Hist Biol 7:319–337
MacArthur RH (1972) Geographical ecology. Harper & Row, New York
MacArthur RH, Wilson EO (1963) An equilibrium theory of insular zoogeography. Evolution 17:373–387
Mägdefrau K (1992) Geschichte der Botanik. Leben und Leistung großer Forscher. Fischer, Stuttgart
Margalef R (1963) On certain unifying principles in ecology. Am Nat 97:357–374
May RM (1974) Biological populations with non-overlapping generation: stable cycles, and chaos. Science 186:645–647
May RM, Seger J (1986) Ideas in ecology. Am Sci 74:256–267
Mayr E (1984) Die Entwicklung der biologischen Gedankenwelt. Vielfalt, Evolution und Vererbung. Springer, Berlin
McIntosh RP (1985) The background of ecology: concept and theory. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
McIntosh RP (1987) Pluralism in ecology. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 18:321–341
Mooney HA, Cushman JH et al (eds) (1996) Functional roles of biodiversity – A global perspective. Wiley, Chichester
Müller F, Fränzle O et al (1996) Modellbildung in der Ökosystemanalyse als Integrationsmittel von Empirie, Theorie und Anwendung – eine Einführung. EcoSys 4:1–16
Nelson G (1978) From candolle to croizat: comments on the history of biogeography. J Hist Biol 11:269–305
Novikoff AB (1945) The concept of integrative levels and biology. Science 101:209–215
Odum EP (1953) Fundamentals of ecology. Saunders, Philadelphia
Odum EP (1959) Fundamentals of ecology. Saunders, Philadelphia
Odum EP (1971a) Fundamentals of ecology. Saunders, Philadelphia
Odum EP, Odum HT (1953) Fundamentals of ecology. Saunders, Philadelphia
Odum HT (1971b) Environment, power and society. John Wiley & Sons, London
Paine RT (1966) Food web complexity and species diversity. Am Nat 100:65–75
Palmer MW, White PS (1994) Scale dependence and the species-area relationships. Am Nat 144:717–740
Peters RH (1991) A critique for ecology. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge
Petersen CGJ (1913) Valuation of the sea II. The animal communities of the sea bottom and their importance for marine zoogeography. Rep Danish Biol Stat 21:1–44
Pickett STA, White PS (1985) Patch dynamics – a synthesis. In: Pickett STA, White PS (eds) The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic, San Diego, pp 371–384
Pielou EC (1969) An introduction to mathematical ecology. Wiley interscience, New York
Porter WP, Gates DM (1969) Thermodynamic equilibria of animals with environment. Ecol Monogr 39:224–244
Preston FW (1962) The canonical distribution of commonness and rarity. Ecology 43(185–215):431–432
Querner H (1980) Das teleologische Weltbild Linne’s - Observationes, Oeconomia, Politia. Veröff Joachim Jungius-Ges Wiss Hamburg 43:25–49
Raunkiaer C (1934) The life forms of plants and statistical plant geography. Clarendon, Oxford
Regier HA, Rapport DJ (1978) Ecological paradigms, once again. Bull Ecol Soc Am 59:2–6
Reise K (1980) Hundert Jahre Biozönose. Die Evolution eines ökologischen Begriffes. Naturwissenschaftliche Rundschau 33:328–335
Rowe JS (1961) The level-of-integration concept and ecology. Ecology 42:420–427
Salisbury EJ (1932) The East Anglian flora. Trans Norfolk Norwich Natl Soc 13:191–263
Scudo F (1971) Vito Volterra and theoretical ecology. Theor Popul Biol 2:1–23
Shelford VE (1913) Animal communities in temperate America as Illustrated in the Chicago region. Bulletin of the Geographical Society of Chicago, Chicago
Shrader-Frechette K, McCoy E (1990) Theory reduction and explanation in ecology. Oikos 58:109–114
Simberloff D (1980) A succession of paradigms in ecology: from essentialism to materialism and probabilism. Synthese 43:3–39
Simberloff D (1999) The role of science in the preservation of forest biodiversity. Forest Ecol Manage 115:101–111
Simberloff D, Wilson EO (1969) Experimental zoogeography of islands: the colonization of empty islands. Ecology 50:278–296
Skellam JG (1951) Random dispersal in theoretical populations. Biometrika 38:96–218
Slobodkin LB (1960) Ecological energy relationships at the population level. Am Nat 44:213–236
Southwood TRE (1977) Ecological methods. Chapman & Hall, London
Stauffer RC (1960) Ecology in the long manuscript version of Darwin’s origin of species and Linnaeus’ Oeconomy of nature. Proc Am Philos Soc 104:235–241
Stearns SC (1976) Life history tactics: a review of ideas. Q Rev Biol 51:3–47
Strong D (1980) Null hypothesis in ecology. Synthese 43:271–285
Tansley AG (1935) The use and abuse of vegetational concepts and terms. Ecology 16:284–307
Ter Braak CJF (1988) CANOCO – A FORTRAN program for canonical community ordination by [Partial] [Detrended] [Canonical] correspondence analysis and redundancy analysis (Version 2.1). GLW, Wageningen
Tilman D (1982) Resource competition and community structure. Princeton University Press, Princeton
Toulmin S (1978) Kritik der kollektiven Vernunft. Suhrkamp, Frankfurt
Trepl L (1987) Geschichte der Ökologie. Athenäum, Frankfurt
Trepl L (1995) Die Diversitäts-Stabilitäts-Diskussion in der Ökologie. Berichte ANL, Beiheft 12:35–49
Turner MG (1989) Landscape ecology: the effect of pattern on process. Annu Rev Ecol Syst 20:171–197
Ulanowicz RE (1990) Aristotelian causalities in ecosystem development. Oikos 57:42–48
Vareschi E, Zauke GP (1993) Entwicklung eines theoretischen Konzepts zur Ökosystemforschung im Wattenmeer. UBA-Texte 47/39:1–142
Volterra V (1926) Fluctuations in the abundance of a species considered mathematically. Nature 118:558–560
Vorzimmer P (1965) Darwin´s ecology and its influence upon his theory. Isis 56:148–155
Walter H (1973) Allgemeine geobotanik. Ulmer, Stuttgart
Warming E (1895) Plantesamfund, grundträk af den Ökologiske plantegeografi. Philipsens Forlag, Copenhagen
Watt AS (1947) Pattern and process in the plant community. J Ecol 35:1–22
Whittaker RH (1962) Classification of natural communities. Bot Rev 28:1–239
Wiegleb G (1989) Explanation and prediction in vegetation science. Vegetatio 83:17–34
Wiegleb G (1992) Explorative Datenanalyse und räumliche Skalierung – eine kritische Evaluation. Verhandlungen der Gesellschaft für Ökologie 21:327–338
Wiegleb G (1996) Konzepte der Hierarchietheorie in der Ökologie. In: Mathes K, Breckling B, Ekschmitt K (eds) Systemtheorie in der Ökologie. Ecomed, Marburg, pp 7–24
Wiegleb G (2003) Was sollten wir über Biodiversität wissen? Aspekte einer angewandten Biodiversitätsforschung. In: Weimann J, Hoffmann A, Hoffmann S (eds) Messung und Bewertung von Biodiversität: mission impossible? Metropolis, Marburg, pp 151–178
Wilson DS (1988) Holism and reductionism in evolutionary ecology. Oikos 53:269–273
Wissel C (1989) Theoretische Ökologie. Springer, Berlin
Worster D (1977) Nature´s economy. The roots of ecology. Sierra Club Books, San Francisco
Wuketits FM (1995) Evolutiontheorie. Historische Vorraussetzungen, Positionen, Kritik. Wiss.Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt
Yoda K, Kira T et al (1963) Self-thinning in overcrowded pure stands under cultivated and natural conditions. J Biol Osaka City Univ 14:107–129
Zauke GP (1989) Konzeptionelle Überlegungen für einen Forschungsschwerpunkt “Wattenmeer” aus der Sicht der theoretischen Ökologie. UBA-Texte: 253–264
Acknowledgment
I thank U. Böring for the critical reading of various versions of the text and help with the technical preparations of the manuscript.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Wiegleb, G. (2011). A Few Theses Regarding the Inner Structure of Ecology. In: Schwarz, A., Jax, K. (eds) Ecology Revisited. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9744-6_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-9744-6_7
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-90-481-9743-9
Online ISBN: 978-90-481-9744-6
eBook Packages: Biomedical and Life SciencesBiomedical and Life Sciences (R0)