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Different Meaning in Different Sizes: Ecology in Size Scales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 May 2022

Tamar Schneider Open the ORCID record for Tamar Schneider [Opens in a new window]
Tamar Schneider*
Affiliation:
Cohn Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Ideas, Tel-Aviv University, Israel
*
Email: [email protected]
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Abstract

Any given ecosystem includes macro- and micro-organismal ecology. I examine the concept of stability and its meaning in these two size scales. Historically, the stability concept follows species population dynamics and equilibrium. In micro-ecology, however, classification is rare and, in the majority of cases, not possible. Therefore, the microbial taxonomic composition is regarded in a nonspecific way, as opposed to animals and plant communities. Such different consideration leads to the emphasis on functional stability in micro-ecology versus the structural in macro-ecology. I discuss the implication of these differences in meanings and the possibilities of integrating them.

Type
Symposia Paper
Information
Philosophy of Science , Volume 89 , Issue 5 , December 2022 , pp. 1134 - 1144
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Philosophy of Science Association

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