Ecological Thoughts

On what is “good” question. “Nothing shocks me, I am a scientist” (Indiana Jones, in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom”) Early on, as students of the natural sciences we learn the scientific method. The principle behind it is hypothesis testing, a process through which a conjecture or hypothesis is put to test with some experiment that allows us to manipulate factors.  In ecology, the application of this approach took a little longer than in other fields, probably because the discipline has a strong background of natural history: describing species, where they lived and what they did. We can easily picture the first ecologists as thoughtful observers of nature.  Also, manipulating factors, carrying our controls and assuring repeatability are high, often difficult to achieve, goals. It was in the late 1950’s, and through the strong influence of researchers such as Robert Mc Arthur, that hypothesis testing has become more of rule in the ecological sciences 1 . Th

The combination of a generalized lockdown with a snowy winter got me in the mood of starting this blog in July 2020. I wish to share some of my thoughts on ecological science from Southern Argentina, via this blog. I have also led the International Journal of Pest Management since 2012 and as from 2021 will be Editor-in-Chief of Ecological Applications, one of five journals managed by the Ecological Society of America (ESA).  I will  write on random things, all ecology. I expect to write some comment on those papers published in EA that have, for some reason caught my eye. Of course all thoughts and opinions will be solely mine. Finally, because I teach Population Ecology and Behavioural Ecology at the Universidad del Comahue in Bariloche, I will write about the experience of teaching ecology to graduate students.  I enjoy teaching no end...but Zoom clases...well this is another story, soon to begin for me. Our second term, when I will be teaching starts on August 24, but wit