Plant functional types, communities and ecosystems

摘要

In genetics, taxonomy, evolutionary biology and biomedical science it is widely accepted that the current rapid rates of progress in these various fields of research depend in large measure upon a 'scaling down' of methods and models to the molecular level. In the midst of this exciting revolution within the biologies the relatively new science of ecology continues to seek its identity and to define its research objectives. Although this paper begins with an illustration of the use of reductionistmethods in ecology, my purpose is to suggest that although molecular insights into the ecology of organisms are interesting and useful, the success or failure of our emerging science is likely to rest ultimately on our ability to understand largescale processes. In particular, we need to know what determines the structure, biodiversity and dynamics of ecosystems and causes their properties to change from place to place, with the passage of time and under various human pressures. This suggests that in contrast to what is taking place in much of the remainder of biology, the challenge for ecologists is to 'scale up'.