Abstract
The Macarthur-Wilson equilibrium theory of island biogeography has had a contradictory role in ecology. As a lasting contribution, the theory has created a new way of viewing insular environments as dynamical systems. On the other hand, many of the applications of the theory have reduced to mere unimaginative curve-fitting. I analyze this paradox in semiotic terms: the theory was mainly equated with the simple species-area relationship which became a ‘signifier’ of interesting island ecology. The theory is, however, better viewed as a theoretical framework that suggests specific hypotheses on the ecology of colonization of insular environments. This paradox is inherent in the use of simplifying analytic models. Analytic models are necessary and fruitful in the work of ecologists, but they ought to be supplemented with a broader, pluralistic appreciation of the role of theories in general.
References
Abbott, I.: 1980, ‘Theories Dealing with the Ecology of Landbirds on Islands’, Advances of Ecological Research 11, 329–371.
Barthes, R.: 1968, Elements of Semiology, Hill and Wang, New York.
Bhaskar, R.: 1978, A Realist Theory of Science, Harvester Press, Sussex.
Connor, E. F. and McCoy, E. D.: 1979, ‘The Statistics and Biology of the Species-area Relationship’, American Naturalist 113, 791–833.
Crawford, T. J.: 1984, ‘What Is a Population?’, in B. Shorrocks (ed.), Evolutionary Ecology, Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, pp. 135–173.
Gadamer, H.-G.: 1981, Reason in the Age of Science, The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Gilbert, F.: 1980, ‘The Equilibrium Theory of Biogeography: Fact of Fiction?’, Journal of Biogeography 7, 209–235.
Haila, Y.: 1982, ‘Hypothetico-deductivism and the Competition Controversy in Ecology’, Annales Zoologici Fennici 19, 255–263.
Haila, Y.: 1983, ‘Land Birds on Northern Islands: A Sampling Metaphor for Insular Colonization’, Oikos 41, 334–351.
Haila, Y.: 1986, ‘North European Land Birds in Forest Fragments: Evidence for Area Effects?’, in J. Verner, M. L. Morrison and C. J. Ralph (eds.), Modeling Habitat Relationships of Terrestrial Vertebrates, University of Wisconsin Press, Madison (in press).
Haila, Y. and Järvinen, O.: 1981, ‘The Underexploited Potential of Bird Censuses in Insular Ecology’, Studies in Avian Biology 6, 559–565.
Haila, Y. and Järvinen, O.: 1982, ‘The Role of Theoretical Concepts in Understanding the Ecological Theatre: A Case Study in Island Biogeography’, in E. Saarinen (ed.), Conceptual Issues in Ecology, D. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp. 261–278.
Haila, Y., Järvinen, O. and Kuusela, S.: 1983, ‘Colonization of Islands by Land Birds: Prevalence Functions in a Finnish Archipelago’, Journal of Biogeography 10, 499–531.
Hesse, M.: 1982, ‘Science and Objectivity’, in J. B. Thompson and D. Held (eds.), Habermas, Critical Debates, Macmillan, London, pp. 98–115.
Koyré, A.: 1965, Newtonian Studies, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Kuhn, T.: 1977, The Essential Tension. Selected Studies in Scientific Tradition and Change, University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Laudan, L.: 1977, Progress and Its Problems. Towards a Theory of Scientific Change, University of California Press, Berkeley and Los Angeles.
Levins, R.: 1966, ‘The Strategy of Model Building in Population Biology’, American Scientist 54, 421–431.
Levins, R.: 1974, ‘Genetics and Hunger’, Genetics 78, 67–76.
Levins, R. and Lewontin, R. C.: 1980, ‘Dialectics and Reductionism in Ecology’, Synthese 43, 47–78.
Lewis, R. W.: 1980, ‘Evolution: A System of Theories’, Perspectives in Biology and Medicine 23, 551–572.
Lewontin, R. C.: 1985, ‘Population Genetics’,in P. J. Greenwood, P. H. Harvey and M. Slatkin (eds.), Evolution — Essays in Honour of John Maynard Smith, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, pp. 3–18.
Lotka, A. J.: 1956, Elements of Mathematical Biology, Dover, New York.
Lynch, J. F. and Johnson, N. K.: 1976, ‘Turnover and Equilibria in Insular Avifaunas, with Special Reference to the California Channel Islands’, Condor 76, 370–384.
MacArthur, R. H. and Wilson, E. O.: 1963, ‘An Equilibrium Theory of Insular Zoogeography’, Evolution 17, 373–387.
MacArthur, R. H. and Wilson, E. O.: 1967, The Theory of Island Biogeography, Princeton University Press, Princeton.
Mayr, E.: 1976, Evolution and the Diversity of Life, Belknap Press, Cambridge, Mass.
Peirce, C. S.: 1955, ‘Logic as Semiotic: The Theory of Signs’, in J. Buchler (ed.), Philosophical Writings of Pierce, Dover, New York, pp. 98–119.
Popper, K. R.: 1959, The Logic of Scientific Discovery, Hutchinson & Co., London.
Popper, K. R.: 1963, Conjectures and Refutations. The Growth of Scientific Knowledge, Routledge & Kegan Paul London.
Preston, F. W.: 1962, ‘The Canonical Distribution of Commonness and Rarity’, Ecology 43, 185–215 and 410–432.
Quinn, J. F. and Dunham, A. E.: 1983, ‘On Hypothesis Testing in Ecology and Evolution’, American Naturalist 122, 602–617.
Simberloff, D. S.: 1974, ‘Equilibrium Theory of Island Biogeography and Ecology’, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 5, 161–182.
Simberloff, D. S.: 1976, ‘Species Turnover and Equilibrium Island Biogeography’, Science 194, 572–578.
Simberloff, D. S.: 1980, ‘A Succession of Paradigms in Ecology: Essentialism to Materialism and Probabilism’, Synthese 43, 3–39.
Simmberloff, D. S.: 1982, ‘The Status of Competition Theory in Ecology’, Annales Zoologici Fennici 19, 241–253.
Tuomi, J.: 1981, ‘Structure and Dynamics of Darwinian Evolutionary Theory’, Systematic Zoology 30, 22–31.
Van Valen, L.: 1976, ‘Domains, Deduction, the Predictive Method and Darwin’, Evolutionary Theory 1, 231–245.
Van Valen, L.: 1982, ‘Why Misunderstood the Evolutionary Half of Biology?’, in E. Saarinen (ed.), Conceptual Issues in Ecology, D. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp. 323–343.
Van Valen, L. and Pitelka, F.: 1974, ‘Commentary — Intellectual Censorship in Ecology’, Ecology 55, 925–926.
Vuilleumier, F.: 1975, ‘Zoogeography’, in D. S. Farner and J. R. King (eds.), Avian Biology, Vol. 5,, Academic Press, New York, pp. 421–469.
Wimsatt, W. C.: 1980, ‘Reductionistic Research Strategies and Their Biases in the Units of Selection Controversy’, in T. Nickles (ed.), Scientific Discovery: Case Studies, D. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp. 213–259.
Williams, R.: 1979, Politics and Letters. Interviews with New Left Review, Verso, London.
Williamson, M.: 1981, Island Populations, Oxford University Press, Oxford.
Williamson, M.: 1983, ‘Island Biogeography: Variation in Population Density and Extinction’, Nature 303, 201.
Wilson, D. S.: 1983, ‘The Group Selection Controversy: History and Current Status’, Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 14, 159–187.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Haila, Y. On the semiotic dimension of ecological theory: The case of island biogeography. Biol Philos 1, 377–387 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140960
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00140960