Can ecological theory cross the land-sea boundary?

Terrestrial and marine ecological research are usually carried out in different institutions, published in different journals and funded from different sources. There are obvious disparities in space and time scales of processes; for example, trees compared with phytoplankton as primary producers; and the structure of their physical and chemical environments are quite distinct. Yet many common problems exist—patch dynamics, foodweb topology, density dependance. Especially there are questions about the nature of the biotic/abiotic relations in the two environments. These comparisons are discussed across sectors particularly in the context of space and time scale interactions between biological processes and the physical milieu. It is proposed that theories developed in one sector can be tested most critically in the other, with potential for greater generality. These extensions are often peripheral to research but the present focus on “global ecosystem dynamics” makes integration of these components a central and pressing issue.

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