Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-10T15:31:52.777Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Generality and Causal Interdependence in Ecology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2022

Alkistis Elliott-Graves
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A hallmark of ecological research is dealing with complexity in the systems under investigation. One strategy is to diminish this complexity by constructing models and theories that are general. Alternatively, ecologists can constrain the scope of their generalizations to particular phenomena or types of systems. However, research employing the second strategy is often met with scathing criticism. I offer a theoretical argument in support of moderate generalizations in ecological research, based on the notions of interdependence and causal heterogeneity and their effect on the trade-off between generality and realism.

Type
Ecology
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 85 , Issue 5 , December 2018 , pp. 1102 - 1114
Copyright
Copyright © The Philosophy of Science Association

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

†

I would like to thank Roberta Millstein, Steve Peck, Chris Eliot, Adrian Currie, an anonymous reviewer, and the audience at the 2016 PSA for helpful and constructive comments.

References

Beckage, Brian, Gross, Louis, and Kauffman, Stuart. 2011. “The Limits to Prediction in Ecological Systems.” Ecosphere 2 (11).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borer, Elizabeth, Harpole, Stanley, Adler, Peter, Lind, Eric, Orrock, John, Seabloom, Eric, and Smith, Melinda. 2014. “Finding Generality in Ecology: A Model for Globally Distributed Experiments.” Methods in Ecology and Evolution 5 (1): 65–73..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cartwright, Nancy. 1983. How the Laws of Physics Lie. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cartwright, Nancy 1994. Nature’s Capacities and Their Measurement. Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casper, Brenda, and Castelli, Jeffrey. 2007. “Evaluating Plant-Soil Feedback Together with Competition in a Serpentine Grassland.” Ecology Letters 10 (5): 394–400..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colyvan, Mark, and Ginzburg, Lev. 2003. “Laws of Nature and Laws of Ecology.” Oikos 101 (3): 649–53..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cooper, Gregory. 1998. “Generalizations in Ecology: A Philosophical Taxonomy.” Biology and Philosophy 13 (4): 555–86..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott-Graves, Alkistis. 2016. “The Problem of Prediction in Invasion Biology.” Biology and Philosophy 31 (3): 373–93..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Evans, Matthew, et al. 2013. “Do Simple Models Lead to Generality in Ecology?” Trends in Ecology and Evolution 28 (10): 578–83..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Grimm, V., Revilla, E., Berger, U., Jeltsch, F., Mooij, W., Railsback, S., Thulke, H., Weiner, J., Wiegand, T., and DeAngelis, D.. 2005. “Pattern-Oriented Modeling of Agent-Based Complex Systems: Lessons from Ecology.” Science 310 (5750): 987–91..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Guala, Francesco. 2003. “Experimental Localism and External Validity.” Philosophy of Science 70 (Proceedings): 1195–1205.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hempel, Carl, and Oppenheim, Paul. 1948. “Studies in the Logic of Explanation.” Philosophy of Science 15 (2): 135–75..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kelly, J., and Horton, K. G.. 2016. “Toward a Predictive Macrosystems Framework for Migration Ecology.” Global Ecology and Biogeography 25 (10): 1159–65..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kingsland, S. 1995. Modeling Nature. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Kitcher, Philip. 1981. “Explanatory Unification.” Philosophy of Science 48 (4): 507–31..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Klironomos, John. 2002. “Feedback with Soil Biota Contributes to Plant Rarity and Invasiveness in Communities.” Nature 417 (6884): 67–70..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Knight, Tiffany, McCoy, Michael, Chase, Jonathan, McCoy, Krista, and Holt, Robert. 2005. “Trophic Cascades across Ecosystems.” Nature 437 (7060): 880–83..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lawton, John. 1999. “Are There General Laws in Ecology?” Oikos 84 (2): 177–92..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leopold, Aldo. 1949/1949. “The Land Ethic.” In The Ecological Design and Planning Reader, ed. Ndubisi, Forster O., 108–21. Washington, DC: Island Press/Center for Resource Economics.Google Scholar
Levins, Richard. 1966. “The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology.” American Scientist 54 (4): 421–31..Google Scholar
Levins, Richard 1993. “A Response to Orzack and Sober: Formal Analysis and the Fluidity of Science.” Quarterly Review of Biology 68 (4): 547–55..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Linquist, Stefan, Gregory, Ryan, Elliott, Tyler, Saylor, Brent, Kremer, Stefan, and Cottenie, Karl. 2016. “Yes! There Are Resilient Generalizations (or ‘Laws’) in Ecology.” Quarterly Review of Biology 91 (2): 119–31..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthewson, John. 2011. “Trade-Offs in Model-Building: A More Target-Oriented Approach.” Studies in History and Philosophy of Science A 42 (2): 324–33..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
May, Robert. 2004. “Uses and Abuses of Mathematics in Biology.” Science 303 (5659): 790–93..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Mikkelson, Gregory M. 2001. “Complexity and Verisimilitude: Realism for Ecology.” Biology and Philosophy 16 (4): 533–46..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mitchell, Sandra. 1997. “Pragmatic Laws.” Philosophy of Science 64:468–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morgan, Mary. 2015. “Case Studies: One Observation or Many? Justification or Discovery?” Philosophy of Science 79 (Proceedings): 667–77.Google Scholar
Odenbaugh, Jay. 2003. “Complex Systems, Trade-Offs, and Theoretical Population Biology: Richard Levin’s ‘Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology’ Revisited.” Philosophy of Science 70 (Proceedings): 1496–1507.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peters, D., Bestelmeyer, B., and Herrick, J.. 2006. “Disentangling Complex Landscapes: New Insights into Arid and Semiarid System Dynamics.” BioScience 56 (6): 491–501..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peters, R. 1991. A Critique for Ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Phillips, R., Ibanez, I., and D’Orangeville, L.. 2016. “A Belowground Perspective on the Drought Sensitivity of Forests: Towards Improved Understanding and Simulation.” Forest Ecology and Management 380:309–20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Railsback, Steven, and Grimm, Volker. 2011. Agent-Based and Individual-Based Modeling: A Practical Introduction. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
Richardson, David, and Rejmánek, Marcel. 2004. “Conifers as Invasive Aliens: A Global Survey and Predictive Framework.” Diversity and Distributions 10 (5–6): 321–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ricklefs, Robert, and Miller, Gary. 2000. Ecology. 4th ed. New York: Freeman.Google Scholar
Salmon, Merrilee H. 1999. Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. Indianapolis: Hackett.Google Scholar
Shrader-Frechette, K., and McCoy, E.. 1993. Method in Ecology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simberloff, Daniel. 2004. “Community Ecology: Is It Time to Move On?” American Naturalist 163 (6): 787–99..CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thrush, S., Hewitt, J., Cummings, V., and Green, M.. 2000. “The Generality of Field Experiments: Interactions between Local and Broad-Scale Processes.” Ecology 81 (2): 399–415..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Travis, J., et al. 2014. “Integrating the Invisible Fabric of Nature into Fisheries Management.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 111 (2): 581–84..Google ScholarPubMed
Valéry, Loïc, Fritz, Hervé, and Lefeuvre, Jean-Claude. 2013. “Another Call for the End of Invasion Biology.” Oikos 122 (8): 1143–46..CrossRefGoogle Scholar
van der Putten, Wim H., et al. 2013. “Plant-Soil Feedbacks: The Past, the Present and Future Challenges.” Journal of Ecology 101 (2): 265–76..CrossRefGoogle Scholar