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Interactions among conifer terpenoids and bark beetles across multiple levels of scale: An attempt to understand links between population patterns and physiological processes

Informally Refereed

Abstract

A major challenge confronting ecologists involves scaling up and down across various levels of biological organization. The ability to conduct such scaling is important, because there is often a gap between the level at which information is most needed or best described versus the level at which it is most reliably generated or best explained. Many patterns are most appropriately addressed at the landscape level, such as how to manage eruptive insect herbivores or understand their roles in ecosystem processes like fire and succession. However, the mechanisms that guide our understanding are often best suited for experimentation at the individual or suborganismal levels. In addition, there are many examples where system properties change dramatically with the scale at which they are examined. Failure to recognize this has resulted in some costly lessons, such as the fire eradication, predator exclusions, and calendar application pesticides.

Citation

Raffa, Kenneth F.; Aukema, Briah H.; Erbilgin, Nadir; Klepzig, Kier D.; Wallin, Kimberly F. 2005. Interactions among conifer terpenoids and bark beetles across multiple levels of scale: An attempt to understand links between population patterns and physiological processes. Recent Advances in Phytochemistry 39: 79-118
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/20819