Australian vs. North American ecological research: Contrasting environmental influences

Abstract

In 1961, HG Andrewartha (Australian) defined ecology as the scientific study of the distribution and abundance of organisms, and analyzed these in light of landscape-scale abiotic factors (eg, soils, water) with less importance given to the biotic interactions. In the 1970s, Charles Krebs (North American, NA) defined ecology as the scientific interactions that determine the distribution and abundance of organisms. Through the 1970s and 1980s, most NA ecologists working on density-dependent phenomena, such as competition or predation, found the Andrewartha density-independent approach unhelpful, and vice versa, and that view continues largely today. Show more