2009 Volume 11 Issue 2 Pages 59-66
Natural history information is important for deciding the appropriateness of apparently proven theoretical models in particular cases, for interpreting controlled field experiments, for determining the ecological importance of individual species and the invasive potential of introduced species, for ground-truthing the extrinsic variables of ecological theory to evolutionary processes, for resolving unwarranted controversies into appropriate interpretations for different species, and for more effective and reliable management of resources. Manuscripts with natural history information are commonly devalued by reviewers of journals for functional and applied ecology, although they are still the foundation of journals for regional and evolutionary ecology. Gordon Orians concluded in 1962 that both functional ecology and evolutionary ecology are valid and useful, and it would be a mistake to construct ecological theory exclusively on either.
