Abstract
Ecology is the study of the relationships of organisms with one another and with their non-living environment. The keyword to notice in this definition is “relationships”. Rather than fixing attention upon the organism or population itself, we as ecologists should be primarily concerned with what transpires between populations. As we also pretend to being scientists, we aim to quantify our observations on these relationships, and this is most readily done when those interactions involve a palpable transfer of either material or energy. When we describe the species composition and densities of phytoplankton and Zooplankton in an open ocean gyre, we are behaving as good quantitative biologists. Not until we attempt to balance grazing rates with rates of respiration, nutrient uptake and sinking, are we acting as quantitative ecologists.
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© 1984 Plenum Press, New York
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Ulanowicz, R.E. (1984). Community Measures of Marine Food Networks and their Possible Applications. In: Fasham, M.J.R. (eds) Flows of Energy and Materials in Marine Ecosystems. NATO Conference Series, vol 13. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0387-0_2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-0387-0_2
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