"Community Structure, Population Control, and Competition"-A Critique
The American NaturalistPublished 1 May 1966
William W. Murdoch
Citations286
SJR quartileQ1
SJR score1.26
SNIP1.10
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TL;DR
The importance of testability and of operational definitions in ecological hypotheses are stressed and the major points made in the paper are suggested that are not acceptable.
Abstract
The paper by Hairston et al. (1960) is examined critically with regard to its premises, logic and internal consistency, and its methodology. It is suggested that, either as conclusions or hypotheses, the major points made in the paper are not acceptable. In the present paper the importance of testability and of operational definitions in ecological hypotheses are stressed.
Keywords
Environmental Science
The American NaturalistCommunity Structure, Population Control, and Competition
3,432 Citations1960Nelson G. Hairston, Frederick E. Smith +1 more
Populations of producers, carnivores, and decomposers are limited by their respective resources in the classical density-dependent fashion and interspecific competition must necessarily exist among the members of each of these three trophic levels.
Canadian Journal of ZoologyPOPULATION PROCESSES IN THE VOLE AND THEIR RELEVANCE TO GENERAL THEORY
455 Citations1960Dennis Chitty
According to field evidence the individuals in a declining vole population are intrinsically less viable than their predecessors, and changes in the severity of their external mortality factors are insufficient to account for the increased probability of death.
EcologyThe Regulation of Density in a Natural Population of the Pond Snail, Lymnaea Elodes
141 Citations1966Robert M. Eisenberg
The regulation of density in the pond snail was far more complete and occurred more rapidly than was thought possible, and the data strongly suggest that it was mediated through food limitation as expressed in fecundity.
Journal of Animal EcologyStudies on the Organization of Animal Communities
41 Citations1964Nelson G. Hairston
It is concluded that competition for resources exists among decomposers, among producers, and among carnivores in terrestrial communities.