Macrosystems ecology: novel methods and new understanding of multi-scale patterns and processes

Abstract

As the global biomes are increasingly threatened by human activities, understanding of macroscale patterns and processes is pressingly needed for effective management and policy making. Macrosystems ecology, which studies multiscale ecological patterns and processes, has gained growing interest in the research community. However, as a relatively new field in ecology, research in macrosystems ecology is facing various challenges. In this special issue, we highlight the following two latest exciting developments in this thriving field: (1) novel tools and methods and (2) new understandings on macroscale patterns and processes. While we believe that the contributions featured in this issue provide promising advancements in macrosystems ecology, we also see multiple challenges for future research including (1) multidisciplinary approaches for longterm and multiscale studies and (2) scaling local patterns and processes to broader scales.Keywords Macrosystems ecology Á Macroecology Á Macroscale Á Scaling Á Heterogeneity Macrosystems ecology, the study of ecological patterns and processes across multiple spatial and temporal scales, is a topic of growing interest. Macrosystems ecology has strong connections with landscape ecology, which also has deep emphases on spatial and temporal patterns, heterogeneity, and scale multiplicity (Forman 1995;Turner 2005;Wu 2013). Since the publication of the foundational paper by Brown and Maurer (1989), which coined the term of ''macroecology'', the field has experienced a rapid growth (Fig. 1). Macroecology is principally concerned with finding patterns in large-scale abundances and distributions and theorizing the reasons why these patterns exist (Brown 1995). It seeks generalized patterns at large spatial and temporal scales and statistical relationships that explain the distribution of biodiversity from a historical and geographical perspective

Trends in ecology: shifts in ecological research themes over the past four decades

“…Macrosystems ecology (Soranno and Schimel ; Fei et al . ), which emphasizes the interactions of biological, geophysical, and socioeconomic processes, pattern emergences, and scale dependencies, could very likely grow substantially in the near future, as the amount of research on many of the themes in this subdiscipline has increased in the recent past. At the microscale, we are seeing a rise in basic research as next‐generation gene sequencing has made it possible to identify microbial and fungal taxonomic groups (Ekblom and Galindo ).…”

Historical foundations and future directions in macrosystems ecology

“…; Fei et al . ). The maturation of macrosystems ecology requires development of testable hypotheses and a demonstrated ability to enhance understanding and prediction of ecological process at very broad spatial and temporal scales.…”

Spatial and temporal variation of ecosystem properties at macroscales

“…The importance of these three knowledge gaps can be best clarified when put within the context of macrosystems ecology, which considers ecological systems and their many interactions at both fine and broad spatial scales (Heffernan et al 2014;Fei et al 2016;Rose et al 2017). Ecosystems play an important role in continental and global cycles of key elements, such as carbon and nitrogen (Vitousek et al 1997;Falkowski et al 2000;Tranvik et al 2018).…”