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- Title
Towards maturation of the population concept.
- Authors
Schaefer, J. A.
- Abstract
Recent literature has emphasized the central role of populations in biological thought and practice, yet a unified population concept remains elusive. I contend that a more mature framework for populations could be realized by dispensing with arbitrary population bounds which, in turn, will entail recognition that populations exist on multiple spatial scales and that populations are inherently vague. I illustrate this framework by decomposing the population structure of a hypothetical organism distribution using fuzzy classification at multiple scales. Hierarchy and vagueness represent the building blocks of a more inclusive population concept.
- Subjects
POPULATION; SPECIES distribution; CLASSIFICATION; BIOLOGICAL research; POPULATION research; POPULATION density; LIFE sciences; ECOLOGY; BIOLOGY
- Publication
Oikos, 2006, Vol 112, Issue 1, p236
- ISSN
0030-1299
- Publication type
Other
- DOI
10.1111/j.0030-1299.2006.13763.x