> That means, I suspect, that ecology is, in the view of literal believers, >
> "doomed" to be "applied."
I don't know about that, but I DO think that what may well be doomed is our
ability to accurately model complex systems. In my own limited attempt at
modelling, I tried to model a simple predator-prey system, but it quickly led
me into a rat's nest of uncertainties. It would have taken years to collect
reliable data from field samples and experiments in order to make the model
realistic. And that was with an artificially simplified model system. I can't
imagine what it would have taken to build a "real" model.
Even the climate modellers acknowledge that over the last decade, all they've
managed to do is confirm what their models CAN'T do (and likely never will).
Somebody should tell the IPCC that bit about models not being predictive tools.
Joe
