TY - BOOK ID - 138985967 TI - Laws, Theories, and Patterns in Ecology. PY - 2009 SN - 1282359851 0520944542 9786612359859 9780520944541 9780520260405 0520260406 9781282359857 9780520260412 0520260414 6612359854 PB - CA University of California Press DB - UniCat KW - Biotic communities. KW - Ecology KW - Philosophy. KW - abiotic components. KW - biodiversity. KW - biology. KW - biomass. KW - biophysical environment. KW - biotic components. KW - competition. KW - cooperation. KW - distribution. KW - ecological theories. KW - ecology. KW - ecosystems. KW - generalizations. KW - global theories of everything. KW - laws. KW - metabolic theory. KW - natural world. KW - nature. KW - neutral theory. KW - organism interactions. KW - phenomenon. KW - populations of organisms. KW - predictive ability. KW - science. KW - scientific laws. KW - scientific practices. KW - theoretical. UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:138985967 AB - Physics and chemistry are distinguished from biology by the way generalizations are codified into theories tested by observation and experimentation. Some theories have been sufficiently tested to qualify as laws. In ecology, generalizations worthy of being called theories are less common because observations and experimentation are difficult and exceptions are more common. In this book, Walter K. Dodds enumerates generalizations in ecology. Introductory material describes how the practice of science in general, and ecology specifically, yields theories and laws. Dodds also discusses why such ideas are only useful if they have predictive ability, and delineates the scope of these generalizations and the constraints that limit their application. The result is a short book that delves deeply into important ecological ideas and how they predict and provide understanding. ER -