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The Ecology of Ecologists: Harnessing Diverse Approaches for a Stronger Science
A celebration of ecology’s variety—as both subject and research endeavor—and a call for intradisciplinary understanding.
Open any ecology textbook, and you will find a heterogeneous mix of material that puzzles many newcomers. How do levels of organization from individual organisms to ecosystems, abstract concepts like food webs and biodiversity, and applied topics, like climate change and conservation, all fit together? New ecological research can be equally puzzling. Ecology journals publish studies using different methods in different study systems to ask different questions and achieve different goals. Is this all really Ecology? Yes, ecologist Jeremy Fox says in this eye-opening book. Ecology contains multitudes, and that is its power. In an essential book for all ecologists, Fox builds on insights developed in his popular blog, Dynamic Ecology, to argue that it is better for a scientific discipline to be messy than monolithic.
Analyzing and accessibly explaining a broad range of scientific literature, Fox shows that ecology grew from disparate sources with profoundly different motivations, methods, and goals. We see the differences in those origins reflected in today’s research, in the pull between those who want to establish ecological laws akin to physical ones and those who see ecology’s value as inherent in its species- or system-specific case studies. Neither group, Fox argues, is doing ecology wrong. Instead, he says, the strength of this science—as in most ecological systems—is diversity. It is good when two ecologists look at similar problems differently. We now need the community to know enough about those different approaches to improve how they work together.
Open any ecology textbook, and you will find a heterogeneous mix of material that puzzles many newcomers. How do levels of organization from individual organisms to ecosystems, abstract concepts like food webs and biodiversity, and applied topics, like climate change and conservation, all fit together? New ecological research can be equally puzzling. Ecology journals publish studies using different methods in different study systems to ask different questions and achieve different goals. Is this all really Ecology? Yes, ecologist Jeremy Fox says in this eye-opening book. Ecology contains multitudes, and that is its power. In an essential book for all ecologists, Fox builds on insights developed in his popular blog, Dynamic Ecology, to argue that it is better for a scientific discipline to be messy than monolithic.
Analyzing and accessibly explaining a broad range of scientific literature, Fox shows that ecology grew from disparate sources with profoundly different motivations, methods, and goals. We see the differences in those origins reflected in today’s research, in the pull between those who want to establish ecological laws akin to physical ones and those who see ecology’s value as inherent in its species- or system-specific case studies. Neither group, Fox argues, is doing ecology wrong. Instead, he says, the strength of this science—as in most ecological systems—is diversity. It is good when two ecologists look at similar problems differently. We now need the community to know enough about those different approaches to improve how they work together.
291 pages, Paperback
Published December 25, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
May 14, 2026
Dr. Fox gives a frank assessment of ecologists’ strength and weaknesses as a whole, along with suggestions of how to become better practitioners of science and keep ecology moving forward. He accurately notes that ecologists often have a communication problem among themselves and the general public, and gives ideas on how ecology could improve both the integrity/rigor of their research. This book was a bit uncomfortable for me because depicts flaws in my own work as well as my colleagues, but also inspired how I could improve.
June 16, 2026
I read this book as part of a reading group at UMass Boston. We enjoyed working through the thoughts at each chapter and being challenged by the author's critiques on Ecologists. The author provided many different avenues for addressing the problems of ecology and I was encouraged to work through them in my own research. This book is worth the read!
June 19, 2026
Used this as the main text for my Grad Ecology class. Worked really well, got some great discussions going.
The book has an interesting analysis that was a helpful framework for my students as we talked about how to do science in Ecology. I really liked the focus on the contrast between the General Law and Case Study approaches, but would have liked more on how to resolve that - What are we (students and researchers) to do? That’s a big ask, of course, as Fox recognizes. It was good to see strong defense of the value of descriptive studies, while retaining awareness of theories.
I liked the emphasis on the importance of reading widely and interacting with other fields, and how he built up the parallel between ecological principles and the development of ideas in general.
I was surprised that Alexander von Humboldt didn’t get much mention – his approach and work seems to fit in to this framework well.
The last few chapters weren’t as fully thought out as the rest - needed more thought and revision.
Personally, I am unsettled and equivocal about his advocation for a shift to application; I don’t like the idea, but that approach may allow big studies on fundamental questions because applications can liberate funds and involve large areas.
I thought the topic “Better stats” (pg 18) never really showed up in the rest of the book. I’d love to know more about just what that would involve. I got the impression this was aimed at observational studies, but perhaps thinking more about experimental designs would help too.
Even though I’ve done them, I am much more distrustful of meta-analyses than Fox is – I think they tend to gloss over the biological details and draw overly broad conclusions (or find muddy results because the topic is more granular. But it was good to see him look at them with a critical eye even though he likes them more than I do.
The book has an interesting analysis that was a helpful framework for my students as we talked about how to do science in Ecology. I really liked the focus on the contrast between the General Law and Case Study approaches, but would have liked more on how to resolve that - What are we (students and researchers) to do? That’s a big ask, of course, as Fox recognizes. It was good to see strong defense of the value of descriptive studies, while retaining awareness of theories.
I liked the emphasis on the importance of reading widely and interacting with other fields, and how he built up the parallel between ecological principles and the development of ideas in general.
I was surprised that Alexander von Humboldt didn’t get much mention – his approach and work seems to fit in to this framework well.
The last few chapters weren’t as fully thought out as the rest - needed more thought and revision.
Personally, I am unsettled and equivocal about his advocation for a shift to application; I don’t like the idea, but that approach may allow big studies on fundamental questions because applications can liberate funds and involve large areas.
I thought the topic “Better stats” (pg 18) never really showed up in the rest of the book. I’d love to know more about just what that would involve. I got the impression this was aimed at observational studies, but perhaps thinking more about experimental designs would help too.
Even though I’ve done them, I am much more distrustful of meta-analyses than Fox is – I think they tend to gloss over the biological details and draw overly broad conclusions (or find muddy results because the topic is more granular. But it was good to see him look at them with a critical eye even though he likes them more than I do.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews