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Theoretical ecology
 
 
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Theoretical ecology refers to several intellectual traditions. The tradition pursued in universities and scientific journals under the rubric of theoretical ecology
Ecology

Ecology is the science study of the distribution and Abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their nature environment ....
 addresses the equations and probability distribution
Probability distribution

In probability theory and statistics, a probability distribution identifies either the probability of each value of an unidentified random variable , or the probability of the value falling within a particular interval ....
s that govern the demography
Demography

Demography is the statistical study of all populations. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic population, that is, one that changes over time or space ....
 and biogeography
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 of species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
. Common topics of theoretical ecology include population dynamics and the mathematics
Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
 of competition
Competition

Competition is a rivalry between individuals, groups, nations, or animals, for territory, a niche, or allocation of resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared....
.

To a large extent theoretical ecology draws on the work of G. Evelyn Hutchinson
G. Evelyn Hutchinson

George Evelyn Hutchinson was an English Americans zoologist known for his studies of freshwater lakes and considered the father of American limnology....
 and his students.






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Encyclopedia


Theoretical ecology refers to several intellectual traditions. The tradition pursued in universities and scientific journals under the rubric of theoretical ecology
Ecology

Ecology is the science study of the distribution and Abundance of life and the interactions between organisms and their nature environment ....
 addresses the equations and probability distribution
Probability distribution

In probability theory and statistics, a probability distribution identifies either the probability of each value of an unidentified random variable , or the probability of the value falling within a particular interval ....
s that govern the demography
Demography

Demography is the statistical study of all populations. It can be a very general science that can be applied to any kind of dynamic population, that is, one that changes over time or space ....
 and biogeography
Biogeography

Biogeography is the study of the distribution of biodiversity over space and time. It aims to reveal where organisms live, and at what abundance....
 of species
Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring....
. Common topics of theoretical ecology include population dynamics and the mathematics
Mathematics

Mathematics is the study of quantity, structure, space, change, and related topics of pattern and form. Mathematicians seek out patterns whether found in numbers, space, natural science, computers, imaginary abstractions, or elsewhere....
 of competition
Competition

Competition is a rivalry between individuals, groups, nations, or animals, for territory, a niche, or allocation of resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared....
.

To a large extent theoretical ecology draws on the work of G. Evelyn Hutchinson
G. Evelyn Hutchinson

George Evelyn Hutchinson was an English Americans zoologist known for his studies of freshwater lakes and considered the father of American limnology....
 and his students. Brothers H.T. Odum
Howard Odum

Howard Odum may refer to:* Howard W. Odum , American sociologist* Howard T. Odum , his son, ecologist...
 and E.P. Odum
Eugene Odum

Eugene Pleasants Odum was an U.S. scientist known for his pioneering work on ecosystem ecology.The average schoolchild of today knows that humans depend on adequate conditions of food, water, and shelter from inclement elements and also that weather, geology, and biology factors are involved in the web of life that affords this Ecosyste...
 are seen as the true founders of modern theoretical ecology (sometimes described as ecosystem ecology). Robert MacArthur
Robert MacArthur

Robert Helmer MacArthur was an United States ecology who made a major impact on many areas of community ecology and population ecology.MacArthur received his Bachelor's degree from Marlboro College, a Master's degree in mathematics from Brown University ....
 brought theory to community ecology
Community ecology

Community ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology which studies the distribution, abundance, demography, and biological interactions between coexisting populations....
. Daniel Simberloff
Daniel Simberloff

Daniel Simberloff is a biologist and ecologist who earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1969.Simberloff started his studies in ecology as a student of the biologist E....
 was the student of E.O. Wilson, with whom MacArthur collaborated on The Theory of Island Biogeography
The Theory of Island Biogeography

The Theory of Island Biogeography is a 1967 in literature book by Edward O. Wilson and Robert MacArthur which laid the foundations for the study of island biogeography....
, a seminal work in the development of theoretical ecology. Simberloff went on to add rigour to experimental ecology and was one of the stalwarts in the SLOSS Debate
SLOSS Debate

The SLOSS Debate was a debate in ecology and conservation biology during the 1970s and 1980s as to whether Single Large or Several Small reserves were a superior means of conserving biodiversity in a habitat fragmentation....
 (whether it is preferable to protect a Single Large or Several Small reserves) and forced supporters of Jared Diamond
Jared Diamond

Jared Mason Diamond is an American evolutionary biologist, physiologist, biogeography, lecturer, and nonfiction author. Diamond works as a professor of geography and physiology at University of California, Los Angeles....
's community assembly rules to defend their ideas through Neutral Model Analysis. Simberloff also played a key role in the (ongoing) debate on the utility of corridors for connecting isolated reserves (with Reed Noss taking the lead on the opposing side).

MacArthur's students Stephen Hubbell and Michael Rosenzweig
Michael Rosenzweig

Michael L. Rosenzweig is an ecologist at the University of Arizona who has developed and popularized the concept of Reconciliation ecology. He founded and developed the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, at UA Tucson, now a major center for the study of Evolutionary Ecology....
 combined theoretical and practical elements into works that extended MacArthur and Wilson's Island Biogeography Theory - Hubbell with his Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography
Unified neutral theory of biodiversity

The unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography is a theory and the title of a monograph by ecology Stephen Hubbell. The theory aims to explain the diversity and relative abundance of species in ecological communities, although like other neutral theory of ecology, Hubbell's theory assumes that the differences between members of...
 and Rosenzweig with is Species Diversity in Space and Time.

Other key theoretical ecologists include Robert May, Robert Rosen
Robert Rosen

Robert Rosen was an United States theoretical biologist and professor of Biophysics at Dalhousie University....
, author of "Life Itself", G. David Tilman
G. David Tilman

G. David Tilman born in 1949 in Aurora, Illinois, is a prominent United States ecologist who earned his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in 1976....
, and Robert Ulanowicz
Robert Ulanowicz

Robert E. Ulanowicz is an American theoretical ecology and philosopher who is best known for his search for a "unified theory of ecology". He is Professor of Theoretical Ecology at the University of Maryland, College Park's Chesapeake Biological Laboratory....
, author of Ecology: The Ascendant Perspective.

See also

  • Ecosystem model
    Ecosystem model

    Ecosystem models, or ecological models, are mathematics representations of ecosystems. Typically they simplify complex food web down to their major components or trophic levels, and quantify these as either numbers of organisms, biomass or the inventory/concentration of some pertinent chemical element ....
  • Mathematical biology
    Mathematical biology

    Mathematical biology/Theoretical biology includes at least four major subfields: Biological mathematical modeling, Relational biology/Complex systems biology , Bioinformatics and Computational biomodeling/biocomputing, and is an interdisciplinary research field of academic study with a wide range of applications in Bio...
  • Theoretical biology
    Theoretical biology

    Theoretical biology is a field of academic study and research that involves the use of models and theory in biology.Many separate areas of biology fall under the concept of theoretical biology, according to the way they are studied....