The Scale Transition

The dynamical change that occurs with a change in spatial or temporal scale in an ecological community is referred to as the scale transition. Scale transition theory explains this change in dynamics as an interaction between nonlinearities in population growth and spatial or temporal variation in population densities and environmental factors. This interaction results from the phenomenon of nonlinear averaging.


References

Chesson, P.L. 1978. Predator-prey theory and variability. Ann. Rev. Ecol. Syst. 9, 323-347.

Chesson, P.L. 1981. Models for spatially distributed populations: the effect of within-patch variability. Theor. Pop. Biol. 19, 288-325.

Chesson, P.L. 1984. Variable predators and switching behavior. Theor. Pop. Biol. 26, 1-26.

Chesson, P. 1991. Stochastic population models. In "Ecological Heterogeneity," J. Kolasa and S.T.A. Pickett (eds), Ecological Studies: analysis and synthesis 86, 123-143. Springer-Verlag, New York.

Chesson, P. 1996. Matters of scale in the dynamics of populations and communities. Pp 353-368 In Frontiers of Population Ecology (eds. R.B. Floyd, A.W. Sheppard, and P. J. de Barro) CSIRO.

Chesson, P. 1998. Making sense of spatial models in ecology. Pp 151-166 in J. Bascompte and R. Sole (eds) “Modelling Spatiotemporal Dynamics in Ecology,” Academic Press.

Chesson, P. 1998. Spatial Scales in the Study of Reef fishes: a theoretical perspective. Australian Journal of Ecology 23, 209-215.

Chesson, P. 2001. Metapopulations. Pp 161-176 in Encyclopedia of Biodiversity, Vol 4, Simon A. Levin, ed, Academic Press.

Chesson, P., Donahue, M., Melbourne, B., Sears, A. 2004. Scale transition theory for understanding mechanisms in metacommunities. In Holyoak, M, Leibold, M.A., Holt, R.D., eds, Metacommunities: spatial dynamics and ecological communities, pp 279-306.

Melbourne, B. Sears, A., Donahue, M. and Chesson, P. 2004. Applying scale transition theory to metacommunities in the field. In Holyoak, M, Leibold, M.A., Holt, R.D., eds, Metacommunities: spatial dynamics and ecological communities, pp 306-330.

Melbourne, B.A., Chesson, P. 2004. Scaling up population dynamics: integrating theory and data. Oecologia 145, 179-187.