Scaling Relations in Experimental Ecology

The complexity of ecosystems complicates experimental design. How, for example, does a scientist draw boundaries when studying an individual species or area? Once these boundaries are drawn, how should one treat factors that are external to the study? Will the failure to consider external factors affect ones ability to extrapolate information across temporal and spatial scales? This book discusses recent advances in the theory of "scaling relations" and identifies critical issues that must be considered if experimental results are to be applied to actual ecosystems.

Contents background

• Scale-Dependence and the Problem of Extrapolation : Implication for Experimental and Natural Coastal Ecosystems

• Understanding the Problem of Scale in Experimentfal Ecology
• The Nature of the Scale Issue in Experimentation
• Spatial Allometry : Theory and Application to Experimental and Natural Aquatic Systems

• Getting It Right and Wrong : Extrapolations Across Experimental Scales
• Some Reluctant Ruminations on Scales (and Claws and Teeth) in Marine Mesocosms
• Eveluating and Modelling foraging Performance of Planktivorous Fish : Effects of Contaiment and Issues of Scale
• Experimental Validity and Ecological Scale as Crieria for Evaluating Research Programs

• Scalling Issues in Experimental Ecology : Freshwater Ecosystems
• Terrestrial Perspectives on Issues of Scales in Experimental Ecology
• Issues of Scale in Land-Margin Ecosystems
• Scaling Issues in Marine Experimental Ecosystems : The Role of Patchiness