Must There Be a Balance of Nature?

Cooper, Gregory

doi:10.1023/a:1011935220219

Cited by 76 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…Secondly, from the earliest to modern DD literature, polysemy reveals carelessness among authors to check the correct semantics of their lexicon with regard to the original nomenclature, a problem that is spread throughout the ecological literature (Todd and Ladle 2008;Todd et al 2007) given the enormity of the knowledge base which now exists. Thirdly, experts have furnished new terms to ground their views in debates about the biological meaning of DD and demographic role of DD mechanisms, and how to provide statistical evidence for that role, particularly relative to population regulation (Cooper 2001;Murray 1982;Royama 1977;Sale and Tolimieri 2000). Fourthly, modern ecologists work in different philosophically based paradigms to study population dynamics (Krebs 2002b), and the semantic range of lexicon overlaps across those paradigms.…”

Section: Simple Rules Of Nomenclaturementioning

confidence: 99%

“…Behind such a simple definition lies a long history of debates that has ramified into a colourful body of jargon. Inconsistencies in the lexicon used to denote statistical and semantic properties of density dependence, and associated population phenomena and mechanisms Cooper 2001;Murray 1982;Sale and Tolimieri 2000), have nourished an old debate through ecology's infancy (Andrewartha 1958(Andrewartha , 1959Nicholson 1958Nicholson , 1959Varley 1959), maturation (den Boer 1968;Hanski et al 1993;Krebs 1995;Reddingius 1971;Slobodkin et al 1967;Strong 1986;Wolda 1995) and modern sophistication (Berryman 2004;Bjørnstad and Grenfell 2001;Krebs 2002a;Murray 2001;White 2008). This debate has contrasted (in simple terms) the demographic roles of biotic interactions (as inferred from density dependence) and stochastic and abiotic factors, and has focussed on how to provide quantitative evidence for those roles in the single-most important theme Communicated by Ola Olsson.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Density dependence: an ecological Tower of Babel

et al. 2012

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The concept of density dependence represents the effect of changing population size on demographic rates and captures the demographic role of social and trophic mechanisms (e.g. competition, cooperation, parasitism or predation). Ecologists have coined more than 60 terms to denote different statistical and semantic properties of this concept, resulting in a formidable lexicon of synonymies and polysemies. We have examined the vocabulary of density dependence used in the modern ecological literature from the foundational lexicon developed by Smith, Allee, Haldane, Neave and Varley. A few simple rules suffice to abate terminological inconsistency and to enhance the biological meaning of this important concept. Correct citation of original references by ecologists and research journals could ameliorate terminological standards in our discipline and avoid linguistic confusion of mathematically and theoretically complex patterns.

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Section: Simple Rules Of Nomenclaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Density dependence: an ecological Tower of Babel

et al. 2012

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“…Arrows indicate signifi cant intellectual antecedents of Elton ' s (1958) ecology. This perspective has been labelled the ' balance of nature camp ' , which Cooper (2001) argues is ' guided by the image of nature as full -of populations with boundless reproductive potential being held in check by density sensitive governors ' . It is unfair, however, to typify Elton ' s views on the subject of diversity and invasibility as strictly a ' balance of nature ' perspective ( sensu Cronk & Fuller 1995 ), at least to the extent that invasions from a ' balance of nature ' perspective require imbalances brought on by anthropogenic disturbances.…”

Section: Elton ' S Argument: Complexity Stability and Ecological Resmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biodiversity as a Bulwark Against Invasion: Conceptual Threads Since Elton

Fridley

2010

Fifty Years of Invasion Ecology

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…And despite its relevance, much about it has to be inferred (Cooper 2001). The concept may simply have a low profile, as suggested by Cooper (2001), because it is unconsciously concealed by the paradigmatic status it carries. Nevertheless, the argument about ecological systems being balanced is surprisingly complex, and subject to ready misinterpretation (Cuddington 2001).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individuals, populations and the balance of nature: the question of persistence in ecology

Walter

2008

Biol Philos

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Explaining the persistence of populations is an important quest in ecology, and is a modern manifestation of the balance of nature metaphor. Increasingly, however, ecologists see populations (and ecological systems generally) as not being in equilibrium or balance. The portrayal of ecological systems as ''non-equilibrium'' is seen as a strong alternative to deterministic or equilibrium ecology, but this approach fails to provide much theoretical or practical guidance, and warrants formalisation at a more fundamental level. This is available in adaptation theory, which allows population persistence to be explained as an epiphenomenon stemming from the maintenance, survival, movement and reproduction of individual organisms. These processes take place within a physicochemical and biotic environment that persists through structured annual cycles, but which is also spatiotemporally dynamic and subject to stochastic variation. The focus is thus shifted from the overproduction of offspring and the consequent density dependent population pressure thought to follow, to the adaptations and ecological circumstances that support those relatively few individuals that do survive.

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Must There Be a Balance of Nature?

Cited by 76 publications

References 69 publications

Density dependence: an ecological Tower of Babel

Density dependence: an ecological Tower of Babel

Biodiversity as a Bulwark Against Invasion: Conceptual Threads Since Elton

Individuals, populations and the balance of nature: the question of persistence in ecology

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