Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Hierarchy Theory: An Overview

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World

Part of the book series: Ecology and Ethics ((ECET,volume 1))

Abstract

In both the natural and the artificial worlds, complex systems are often hierarchically organized. In other words, they tend to be structured in layers or levels. The rates of interaction within components at any hierarchical level are much faster than the rates of interaction among components. Also, higher levels tend to be larger and slower whereas lower levels tend to be smaller and faster. This fundamental property of complex systems is called near-decomposability. Hierarchy theory is a general theory that aims to simplify the description, and thus improve the comprehensibility, of complexity by taking advantage of near-decomposability. In this chapter, I provide an overview of the theory, focusing on its core concepts and tenets. These include the following topics: definitions of hierarchy, hierarchical levels, ordering of hierarchical levels, vertical and horizontal structures, near-decomposability and the empty world hypothesis, the basic triadic structure, hierarchy and scale, the observer’s role. I also discuss some common criticisms on hierarchy theory, and conclude with some comments on the nature and future of the theory.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 219.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 279.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Ahl V, Allen TFH (1996) Hierarchy theory: a vision, vocabulary, and epistemology. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen TFH (2009) Hierarchy theory in ecology. In: Jorgensen SE (ed) Ecosystem ecology – a derivative of encyclopedia of ecology. Elsevier, Amsterdam, pp 114–120

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen TFH, Hoekstra TW (1992) Toward a unified ecology. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen TFH, Starr TB (1982) Hierarchy: perspectives for ecological complexity. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen TFH, O’Neill RV, Hoekstra TW (1984) Interlevel relations in ecological research and management: some working principles from hierarchy theory. USDA Forest Service General Tech Report RM-110, Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station, Fort Collins

    Google Scholar 

  • Allen TFH, Allen PC, Wixon DL (2009) Hierarchy theory in hydropedology. Hydrol Earth Syst Sci Discuss (HESSD) 6:2931–2959

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ando A, Fisher FM (1963) Near-decomposability, partition and aggregation, and the relevance of stability discussions. Int Econ Rev 4:53–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bell MM (2005) The vitality of difference: systems theory, the environment, and the ghost of parsons. Soc Nat Resour 18:471–478

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blöschl G, Sivapalan M (1995) Scale issues in hydrological modelling: a review. Hydrol Process 9:251–290

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cale WG, Odell PL (1979) Concerning aggregation in ecosystem modeling. In: Halfon E (ed) Theoretical systems ecology. Academic, New York, pp 55–77

    Google Scholar 

  • Eldredge N (1985) Unfinished synthesis: biological hierarchies and modern evolutionary thought. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gardner RH, Cale WG, O’Neill RV (1982) Rocust analysis of aggregation error. Ecology 63:1771

    Google Scholar 

  • Giampietro M (1994) Using hierarchy theory to explore the concept of sustainable development. Futures 26:616–625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hartwell LH, Hopfield JJ, Leibler S, Murray AW (1999) From molecular to modular cell biology. Nature 402:C47–C52

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Itzkovitz S, Levitt R, Kashtan N, Milo R, Itzkovitz M, Alon U (2005) Coarse-graining and self-dissimilarity of complex networks. Phys Rev E 71:016127

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Iwasa Y, Andreasen V, Levin SA (1987) Aggregation in model ecosystems: I. Perfect aggregation. Ecol Model 37:287–302

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iwasa Y, Levin SA, Andreasen V (1989) Aggregation in model ecosystems: II. Approximate aggregation. IMA J Math Appl Med Biol 6:1–23

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koestler A (1967) The ghost in the machine. Random House, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolasa J (1989) Ecological systems in hierarchical perspective: breaks in community structure and other consequences. Ecology 70:36–47

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levin SA (1992) The problem of pattern and scale in ecology. Ecology 73:1943–1967

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo JX (2010) Hierarchy in industry architecture: transaction strategy under technological constraints. Ph.D. Dissertation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

    Google Scholar 

  • MacArthur RH (1972) Geographical ecology: patterns in the distribution of species. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Maslow A (1954) Motivation and personality. Harper & Row, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • McIntire CD, Colby JA (1978) A hierarchical model of lotic ecosystems. Ecol Monogr 48:167–190

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Milo R, Itzkovitz S, Kashtan N, Levitt R, Shen-Orr S, Ayzenshtat I, Sheffer M, Alon U (2004) Superfamilies of evolved and designed networks. Science 303:1538–1542

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill RV (1988) Hierarchy theory and global change. In: Rosswall T, Woodmansee RG, Risser PG (eds) Scales and global change. Wiley, New York, pp 29–45

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill RV (1989) Perspectives in hierarchy and scale. In: Roughgarden J, May RM, Levin SA (eds) Perspectives in ecological theory. Princeton University Press, Princeton, pp 140–156

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill RV (1996) Recent developments in ecological theory: hierarchy and scale. In: Scott JM, Tear TH, Davis FW (eds) GAP analysis: a landscape approach to biodiversity planning. American Society of Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing, Bethesda, pp 7–14

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill RV, King AW (1998) Homage to St. Michael; or, why are there so many books on scale? In: Peterson DL, Parker VT (eds) Ecological scale: theory and applications. Columbia University Press, New York, pp 3–15

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill RV, Rust B (1979) Aggregation error in ecological models. Ecol Model 7:91–105

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill RV, DeAngelis DL, Waide JB, Allen TFH (1986) A hierarchical concept of ecosystems. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill EG, O’Neill RV, Norby RJ (1991a) Hierarchy theory as a guide to mycorrhizal research on large-scale problems. Environ Pollut 73:271–284

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neill RV, Gardner RH, Milne BT, Turner MG, Jackson B (1991b) Heterogeneity and spatial hierarchies. In: Kolasa J, Pickett STA (eds) Ecological heterogeneity. Springer, New York, pp 85–96

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Odum EP, Barrett GW (2005) Fundamentals of ecology. Brooks/Cole, Southbank

    Google Scholar 

  • Oltvai ZN, Barabasi AL (2002) Life’s complexity pyramid. Science 298:763–764

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Overton WS (1975a) Decomposability: a unifying concept? In: Levin SA (ed) Ecosystem analysis and prediction. SIAM-SIMS, Philadelphia, pp 297–299

    Google Scholar 

  • Overton WS (1975b) The ecosystem modeling approach in the coniferous forest biome. In: Patten BC (ed) Systems analysis and simulation in ecology. Academic, New York, pp 117–138

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Pattee EE (ed) (1973) Hierarchy theory: the challenge of complex systems. George Braziller, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Pattee HH (1991) Measurement-control heterarchical networks in living systems. Int J Gen Syst 18:213–221

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pickett STA, Kolasa J, Armesto JJ, Collins SL (1989) The ecological concept of disturbance and its expression at various hierarchical levels. Oikos 54:129–136

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sales-Pardo M, Guimera R, Moreira AA, Amaral LAN (2007) Extracting the hierarchical organization of complex systems. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 104:15224–15229

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Salthe SN (1985) Evolving hierarchical systems: their structure and representation. Columbia University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Salthe SN (1991) Two forms of hierarchy theory in western discourses. Int J Gen Syst 18:251–264

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senft RL, Coughenour MB, Bailey DW, Rittenhouse LR, Sala OE, Swift DM (1987) Large herbivore foraging and ecological hierarchies. BioScience 37:789–799

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shapley H (1958) Of stars and men. Beacon, Boston

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA (1962) The architecture of complexity. Proc Am Philos Soc 106:467–482

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA (1969) The sciences of the artificial, 1st edn. The MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA (1973) The organization of complex systems. In: Pattee HH (ed) Hierarchy theory: the challenge of complex systems. George Braziller, New York, pp 1–27

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon, HA (1976) How complex are complex systems? In: PSA: Proceedings of the biennial meeting of the Philosophy of Science Association, Ann Arbor, pp 507–522

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA (1981) The sciences of the artificial, 2nd edn. The MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA (1995) Near decomposability and complexity: how a mind resides in a brain. In: Morowitz H, Singer J (eds) Mind, the brain, and complex adaptive systems, Santa Fe Institute Studies in the Sciences of Complexity. Addison-Wesley, Reading, pp 25–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA (1996) The sciences of the artificial, 3rd edn. The MIT Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA (2000) Public administration in today’s world of organizations and markets. Pol Sci Pol 33:749–756

    Google Scholar 

  • Simon HA, Ando A (1961) Aggregation of variables in dynamic systems. Econometrica 29:111–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stommel H (1963) Varieties of oceanographic experience. Science 139:572–576

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Tansley AG (1935) The use and abuse of vegetational concepts and terms. Ecology 16:284–307

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Urban DL, O’Neill RV, Shugart HH (1987) Landscape ecology: a hierarchical perspective can help scientists understand spatial patterns. BioScience 37:119–127

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Waltho N, Kolasa J (1994) Organization of instabilities in multispecies systems, a test of hierarchy theory. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 91:1682–1685

    Article  CAS  PubMed Central  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Warren WA (2005) Hierarchy theory in sociology, ecology, and resource management: a conceptual model for natural resource or environmental sociology and socioecological systems. Soc Nat Resour 18:447–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weiss PA (ed) (1971) Hierarchically organized systems in theory and practice. Hafner Publishing Company, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Whyte LL, Wilson AG, Wilson D (eds) (1969) Hierarchical structures. American Elsevier, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Wilby J (1994) A critique of hierarchy theory. Syst Practice 7:653–670

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wilson D (1969) Forms of hierarchy: a selected bibliography. In: Whyte LL, Wilson AG, Wilson D (eds) Hierarchical structures. American Elsevier, New York, pp 287–314

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu JG (1991) Dissipative structure, hierarchy theory and ecosystems. Chin J Appl Ecol 2:181–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu JG (1999) Hierarchy and scaling: extrapolating information along a scaling ladder. Can J Remote Sens 25:367–380

    Google Scholar 

  • Wu JG, David JL (2002) A spatially explicit hierarchical approach to modeling complex ecological systems: theory and applications. Ecol Model 153:7–26

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu JG, Levin SA (1994) A spatial patch dynamic modeling approach to pattern and process in an annual grassland. Ecol Monogr 64(4):447–464

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu JG, Levin SA (1997) A patch-based spatial modeling approach: conceptual framework and simulation scheme. Ecol Model 101:325–346

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wu JG, Li H (2006) Concepts of scale and scaling. In: Wu J, Jones KB, Li H, Loucks OL (eds) Scaling and uncertainty analysis in ecology: methods and applications. Springer, Dordrecht, pp 3–15

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Wu JG, Loucks OL (1995) From balance-of-nature to hierarchical patch dynamics: a paradigm shift in ecology. Q Rev Biol 70:439–466

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yarrow MM, Salthe SN (2008) Ecological boundaries in the context of hierarchy theory. BioSystems 92:233–244

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zhou CS, Zemanova L, Zamora G, Hilgetag CC, Kurths J (2006) Hierarchical organization unveiled by functional connectivity in complex brain networks. Phys Rev Lett 97:238103

    Article  PubMed  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

This work has been supported in part by National Science Foundation under Grant No.DEB 9714833, DEB-0423704, and BCS-1026865 (Central Arizona-Phoenix Long-Term Ecological Research, CAP-LTER) and BCS-0508002 (Biocomplexity/CNH).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Life Sciences and Global Institute of Sustainability, Arizona State University, 874501, Tempe, AZ, 85287-4501, USA

    Jianguo Wu

Authors
  1. Jianguo Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jianguo Wu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Texas, Sub-Antarctic Biocultural Conservation Department of Philosophy and Religion St, Denton, USA

    Ricardo Rozzi

  2. Plant Ecology, Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Millbrook, New York, USA

    S.T.A. Pickett

  3. Department of Philosophy, Texas A&M University, College Station, USA

    Clare Palmer

  4. Departamento de Ecología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile

    Juan J. Armesto

  5. Department of Philosophy and Religion Studies, University of North Texas, Denton, USA

    J. Baird Callicott

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Wu, J. (2013). Hierarchy Theory: An Overview. In: Rozzi, R., Pickett, S., Palmer, C., Armesto, J., Callicott, J. (eds) Linking Ecology and Ethics for a Changing World. Ecology and Ethics, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7470-4_24

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation