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2 - Minimal requirements of experimental design in ecology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 June 2015

Nelson G. Hairston
Affiliation:
University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
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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 Experiments
Purpose, Design and Execution
, pp. 23 - 51
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 1989

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