OrbHab Paper
On The Epistemology Of Ecosystem Analysis (1980)
ID: 384 Flag Paper
Title: On The Epistemology Of Ecosystem Analysis
Authors: L. Slobodkin, D. Botkin, B. Maguire, B. Moore, H. Morowitz
Journal Name: Estuarine Perspectives
Year of Publication: 1980
Page Number: 497
Category: biosphere
Availability: abs
Detail Page: /papers/384
Web Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780124040601500460
BoK Link: [[paper:384]]
Abstract
It is impossible to construct a general theory or model of any particular ecosystem which will be useful for answering all possible questions about that system, although if we know enough about any ecosystem it is possible to construct such models once a specific question has been posed. This knowledge cannot be gained entirely from the system at issue, due to restrictions in time and resources, as well as to the fact that certain kinds of thorough ecological analysis may damage the system analyzed. Therefore, it is advisable to use relevant information from ecosystems other than the one of immediate interest. A partial list of species present in an ecosystem permits access to the information gained by naturalists working on other systems. We therefore justify the usual practice of making species lists because such a list is the best (i.e. cheapest and most useful) preliminary step in answering questions about any ecosystem. While explicit measurements must also be made in the object ecosystem in order to usefully model it, it is likely that the number of such necessary measurements may be reduced and their usefulness enhanced by the background natural history information implicit in a partial species list. To demonstrate that the information of natural history can be communicated in a relatively complete way, we provide a partial representation of an adaptive response surface for Hydra sp. in which much of the kind of information about these organisms that might be useful for model construction can be presented in a relatively simple diagram.
Title: On The Epistemology Of Ecosystem Analysis
Authors: L. Slobodkin, D. Botkin, B. Maguire, B. Moore, H. Morowitz
Journal Name: Estuarine Perspectives
Year of Publication: 1980
Page Number: 497
Category: biosphere
Availability: abs
Detail Page: /papers/384
Web Link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780124040601500460
BoK Link: [[paper:384]]
Abstract
It is impossible to construct a general theory or model of any particular ecosystem which will be useful for answering all possible questions about that system, although if we know enough about any ecosystem it is possible to construct such models once a specific question has been posed. This knowledge cannot be gained entirely from the system at issue, due to restrictions in time and resources, as well as to the fact that certain kinds of thorough ecological analysis may damage the system analyzed. Therefore, it is advisable to use relevant information from ecosystems other than the one of immediate interest. A partial list of species present in an ecosystem permits access to the information gained by naturalists working on other systems. We therefore justify the usual practice of making species lists because such a list is the best (i.e. cheapest and most useful) preliminary step in answering questions about any ecosystem. While explicit measurements must also be made in the object ecosystem in order to usefully model it, it is likely that the number of such necessary measurements may be reduced and their usefulness enhanced by the background natural history information implicit in a partial species list. To demonstrate that the information of natural history can be communicated in a relatively complete way, we provide a partial representation of an adaptive response surface for Hydra sp. in which much of the kind of information about these organisms that might be useful for model construction can be presented in a relatively simple diagram.