PARENT SESSION
Symposium #3: The role of spatial extent in ecological pattern and process.
Sponsored by ESA Vegetation Section
Organized by: J. Nekola and H.H. Wagner.
Monday, August 6, 2001. 8:00 AM to 11:45 AM. Madison Ballroom B

On the geometry of scale.

Palmer, Michael¹, ¹

ABSTRACT- Although ecologists generally recognize that 'scale is important', the science of spatial scale is developing very slowly. This is especially true for studies of species richness. This slow progress is due, in large part, to the fact that scale is not 'just another factor'. Previously defined spatial scales such as landscape scale, ecological scale, local scale, regional scale, etc. have no objective reality, and we run the risk of reification. Spatial scale can be decomposed into a number of components, including grain, extent, completeness, and more. It is possible to visualize these components using a pyramidal coordinate scheme. Unfortunately, it is impossible to manipulate one aspect of scale without manipulating at least one other. Furthermore, there are inevitable changes in methodology and statistical properties as one changes scale - so cross-scale comparisons are difficult. Finally, I demonstrate using simulations that the scale at which a process influencing biodiversity is best detected is not necessarily the same scale at which the process occurs. The geometry of the environment may have a larger effect than ecological processes on the scale of detection. Thus, progress in our understanding of scale is likely to remain slow, and will depend on the cleverness of investigators.

KEY WORDS: spatial scale, species richness, fractal geometry, spatial extent