Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Ecological problems and how they are approached
- 2 Minimal requirements of experimental design in ecology
- 3 Trade-offs in ecological experimentation
- 4 Experiments in forests
- 5 Experiments in terrestrial successional communities
- 6 Experiments in arid environments
- 7 Experiments in fresh water
- 8 Experiments in marine environments
- 9 Conclusions to be drawn from field experiments
- References
- Name index
- Subject index
2 - Minimal requirements of experimental design in ecology
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 June 2015
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Ecological problems and how they are approached
- 2 Minimal requirements of experimental design in ecology
- 3 Trade-offs in ecological experimentation
- 4 Experiments in forests
- 5 Experiments in terrestrial successional communities
- 6 Experiments in arid environments
- 7 Experiments in fresh water
- 8 Experiments in marine environments
- 9 Conclusions to be drawn from field experiments
- References
- Name index
- Subject index
Summary
Introduction
Ecological experiments come in many forms, and at all levels of sophistication. At the simplest, they involve an ecologist thinking that something interesting is happening, and deciding to change the system to find out more about possible causes. If the change is followed by a dramatic “result,” the curious ecologist may decide that the case is proved, and write the experiment up for publication. The change in the system would be classified as an experiment, but there would be problems in accepting the conclusion, unless certain precautions had been observed. There is the question whether or not a rare or even unique event has been observed. Can the result be repeated? Very few ecological field experiments have been repeated, but the use of a satisfactory experimental design can remove at least some of the uncertainty. Our ecologist is faced with a choice, either to carry out a simple manipulation to satisfy a perhaps uncritical curiosity or to invest more work and conduct an experiment that will convince the array of scientific colleagues.
It might seem superfluous to describe the requirements of experimental design, but they have been violated regularly enough in published works that all should be warned of errors. It is possible to do anything badly, even something as desirable as an experimental approach to ecology. One of the features that distinguish science from other approaches to understanding the world is the set of rules by which scientists operate.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Ecological ExperimentsPurpose, Design and Execution, pp. 23 - 51Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 1989
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