Using temporal and spatial patterns as evidence
Using temporal and spatial patterns as evidence
This chapter addresses the problems and issues that arise from trying to infer the existence of multiple stable states from observations of patterns in time and space. Patterns in nature are often used by ecologists to infer processes and causality, however, the temporal and spatial scales of ecological processes are too long and too broad to undertake informative experiments. This chapter explains the method of inferring causality from patterns, and its connection to catastrophe flags. Moreover, it discusses biases derived from assessing and selecting the evidence of multiple stable states. Examples of evidence from spatial patterns, and temporal patterns are also given.
Keywords: multiple stable states, patterns, ecologists, temporal scales, spatial scales, ecological processes
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