Review
doi: 10.1098/rstb.1999.0534.Unanswered questions in ecology
Affiliations
- PMID:10670015
- PMCID: PMC1692702
- DOI: 10.1098/rstb.1999.0534
Item in Clipboard
Review
Unanswered questions in ecology
R May. Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci..
Display options
Format
Display options
Format
Abstract
This is very much a personal view of what I think are some of the most important unanswered questions in ecology. That is, these are the questions that I expect will be high on the research agenda over the coming century. The list is organized hierarchically, beginning with questions at the level of individual populations, and progressing through interacting populations to entire communities or ecosystems. I will try to guess both at possible advances in basic knowledge and at potential applications. The only thing that is certain about this view of the future is that much of it will surely turn out to be wrong, and many of the most interesting future developments will be quite unforeseen.
Similar articles
- One hundred years of population ecology: Successes, failures and the road ahead.Krebs CJ.Krebs CJ.Integr Zool. 2015 May;10(3):233-40. doi: 10.1111/1749-4877.12130.Integr Zool. 2015.PMID:25664990Review.
- An invertebrate stomach's view on vertebrate ecology: certain invertebrates could be used as "vertebrate samplers" and deliver DNA-based information on many aspects of vertebrate ecology.Calvignac-Spencer S, Leendertz FH, Gilbert MT, Schubert G.Calvignac-Spencer S, et al.Bioessays. 2013 Nov;35(11):1004-13. doi: 10.1002/bies.201300060. Epub 2013 Aug 2.Bioessays. 2013.PMID:23913504Review.
- A hierarchical theory of macroecology.Passy SI.Passy SI.Ecol Lett. 2012 Sep;15(9):923-34. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01809.x. Epub 2012 Jun 15.Ecol Lett. 2012.PMID:22697353
- Network analysis shining light on parasite ecology and diversity.Poulin R.Poulin R.Trends Parasitol. 2010 Oct;26(10):492-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2010.05.008. Epub 2010 Jun 17.Trends Parasitol. 2010.PMID:20561821Review.
- Predator control of ecosystem nutrient dynamics.Schmitz OJ, Hawlena D, Trussell GC.Schmitz OJ, et al.Ecol Lett. 2010 Oct;13(10):1199-209. doi: 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01511.x.Ecol Lett. 2010.PMID:20602626
Cited by
- Effects of niche overlap on coexistence, fixation and invasion in a population of two interacting species.Badali M, Zilman A.Badali M, et al.R Soc Open Sci. 2020 Feb 19;7(2):192181. doi: 10.1098/rsos.192181. eCollection 2020 Feb.R Soc Open Sci. 2020.PMID:32257357Free PMC article.
- Quantile regression of microgeographic variation in population characteristics of an invasive vertebrate predator.Siers SR, Savidge JA, Reed RN.Siers SR, et al.PLoS One. 2017 Jun 1;12(6):e0177671. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0177671. eCollection 2017.PLoS One. 2017.PMID:28570632Free PMC article.
- Visualizing connectivity of ecological and evolutionary concepts-An exploration of research on plant species rarity.Wiegand TP, Gentry B, McCoy Z, Tanis C, Klug H, Bonsall MB, Boyd JN.Wiegand TP, et al.Ecol Evol. 2020 Aug 3;10(17):9037-9047. doi: 10.1002/ece3.6633. eCollection 2020 Sep.Ecol Evol. 2020.PMID:32953044Free PMC article.Review.
- Quantifying stability and resilience of eco-social keystone species complexes for coastal marine ecosystems of the Caribbean Sea and eastern Pacific: applications in conservation and monitoring programmes.Ortiz M, Hermosillo-Núñez B.Ortiz M, et al.Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2024 Sep 9;379(1909):20230176. doi: 10.1098/rstb.2023.0176. Epub 2024 Jul 22.Philos Trans R Soc Lond B Biol Sci. 2024.PMID:39034701
- The animal species-body size distribution of Marion Island.Gaston KJ, Chown SL, Mercer RD.Gaston KJ, et al.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001 Dec 4;98(25):14493-6. doi: 10.1073/pnas.251332098. Epub 2001 Nov 27.Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2001.PMID:11724928Free PMC article.
References
Publication types
MeSH terms
LinkOut - more resources
Full Text Sources