DANGEROUS? Backing up a skosh too far for your victory photo on top of
Everest is dangerous!
But if you are concerned about getting caught in a milling herd of posturing
hair-splitters or a king-of-the-mountain game that goes nowhere, I can
understand your hesitation. And what's quasi about it?
I read the first 18 posts and found some real gems and some serious cracks.
Still, unless there's some commitment to taking challenges seriously and
sticking with the discussion until it is resolved, I, too, am reluctant to
thrash around in the swamp. But on that score, O'Hara says, in part: ". . .
how should we formalise and operationalise our definitions?" The central
"problem" with niche theory is its inseparability from the idea of
boundaries . . . Oops! I'd better watch my ecotone.
WT
PS: How does one, how do "we," move the field of ecology forward?
----- Original Message -----
From: "William Silvert" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 1:23 AM
Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] Feedback: what's a niche?
Too dangerous. The strict Hutchinsonians really get upset if your
definition
of niche is not exactly as the master wrote it.
Here is a key question - can there be an empty niche? Not according to
Hutchinsonians.
This is a good example of the kind of quasi-religious fervor that doesn't
really move the field of ecology forward.
Bill Silvert
PS - If the "empty niche" doesn't get them excited, try the fuzzy niche.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Bob Ohara" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: segunda-feira, 2 de Agosto de 2010 9:07
Subject: [ECOLOG-L] Feedback: what's a niche?
Hi all!
I'm in a workshop, and we've been discussing (amongst other things) what
people understand by the niche. We'd like people to tell us, because we're
a
biased sample. So I've put up a blog post for you all to give your
opinions:
If you have any views, please go over there and comment.
Bob
Bob O'Hara
Tel: +49 69 798 40216 (in Germany)
Mobile: +49 1515 888 5440
WWW: http://www.bik-f.de/root/index.php?page_id=219
Blog: http://blogs.nature.com/boboh/
Journal of Negative Results - EEB: www.jnr-eeb.org
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