Long-Term Studies in Ecology: Approaches and Alternatives

ISBN-13: 9781461573609 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 214 str.

Gene E. Likens

Opis

The Cary Conferences, as we have envisaged them, are different from most scientific meetings in that they provide a forum for major issues in ecology from a more philosophical point of view. It appears to many of us that ecologists have limited opportunities to come together in small groups to address in a more philosophical way some of the major questions and issues that matter very much to the future of humankind and to us as ecologists. Moreover, we hope that the setting ofthe Mary Flagler Cary Arboretum promotes strong interaction and dis- cussion between Conference participants with a minimum of distraction. We are proud to make our facilities available for such meetings, and we hope that over the years these Conferences might provide direction and leadership for the whole field of ecology. We have the broad goal of attempting to advance the field of ecology by bringing together leading ecologists and other scientists to address major issues. The first Cary Conference, in 1985, considered the status and future of ecosystem science. This first Conference was rather loosely structured but was successful in stimulating discussion, ideas, and enthusiasm (Likens et al., 1987). The goals for this second Cary Conference in 1987 were: 1. to identify the roles of long-term studies in ecology; 2. to identify the options for study of long-term ecological phenomena; 3.

Spis treści

I Overview and Alternative Approaches.- 1. Importance and Justification of Long-Term Studies in Ecology.- 2. Objective and Experiment in Long-Term Research.- 3. Retrospective Studies.- 4. The Role of Ecological Models in Long-Term Ecological Studies.- 5. Space-for-Time Substitution as an Alternative to Long-Term Studies.- 6. Ecological Experimentation: Strengths and Conceptual Problems.- 7. Additional Views Conditions and Motivations for Long-Term Ecological Research: Some Notions from Studies on Salt Marshes and Elsewhere 158.- Evaluating National Parks as Sites for Long-Term Studies.- The Value of Long-Term Experiments—A Personal View.- II Analyses, Conclusions, and Recommendations.- 8. What Questions, Systems, or Phenomena Warrant Long-Term Ecological Study?.- 9. How Can the Various Approaches to Studying Long-Term Ecological Phenomena Be Integrated to Maximize Understanding?.- 10. What Are the Difficulties in Establishing and Interpreting the Results from a Long-Term Manipulation?.- 11. How Far in Space and Time Can the Results from a Single Long-Term Study Be Extrapolated?.- 12. Are Currently Available Statistical Methods Adequate for Long-Term Studies?.- 13. How Can We Improve the Reception of Long-Term Studies in Ecology?.- 14. What Are the Tradeoffs Between the Immediacy of Management Needs and the Longer Process of Scientific Discovery?.- III Concluding Remarks.- 15. Concluding Remarks.