Theoretical ecology refers to several intellectual traditions. The tradition pursued in universities and scientific journals under the rubric of theoretical ecology addresses the equations and probability distributions that govern the demography and biogeography of species. Common topics of theoretical ecology include population dynamics and the mathematics of competition. (Ecology is sometimes used incorrectly as a synonym for the natural environment. ... In mathematics, a probability distribution assigns to every interval of the real numbers a probability, so that the probability axioms are satisfied. ... Demography is the study of human population dynamics. ... Biogeography is the science which deals with questions of the distribution of species usually at regional to continental scales. ... In biology, a species is, loosely speaking, a group of related organisms that share a more or less distinctive form and are capable of interbreeding. ... Wikibooks Wikiversity has more about this subject: School of Mathematics Wikiquote has a collection of quotations by or about: Mathematics Look up Mathematics in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has more media related to: Mathematics Bogomolny, Alexander: Interactive Mathematics Miscellany and Puzzles. ... Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological imperative such as survival. ...

To a large extent theoretical ecology draws on the genius of G. Evelyn Hutchinson and his students. Brothers H.T. Odum and E.P. Odum are seen as the true founders of modern theoretical ecology (sometimes described as ecosystem ecology). Robert MacArthur brought theory to community ecology. Daniel Simberloff was the student of E.O. Wilson, with whom MacArthur collaborated on The Theory of Island Biogeography, a seminal work in the development of theoretical ecology. Simberloff went on to add rigour to experimental ecology and was one of the stalwarts in the SLOSS Debate (whether it is preferable to protect a Single Large or Several Small reserves) and forced supporters of Jared Diamond's community assembly rules to defend their ideas through Neutral Model Analysis. Simberloff also played a key role in the (ongoing) debate on the utility of corridors for connecting isolated reserves (with Reed Noss taking the lead on the opposing side). G. Evelyn Hutchinson G(eorge) Evelyn Hutchinson (January 30, 1903 - May 17, 1991) was an American zoologist known for his studies of freshwater lakes and considered the father of modern limnology. ... Howard Thomas Odum (1924-2002) was the son of the noted sociologist Howard W. Odum, and brother of the seminal American ecologist, educator, and author Eugene Pleasants Odum. ... Eugene P. Odum (1913-2002) is considered to have been one of the most influential figures in the science of ecology in the twentieth century. ... Robert H. MacArthur (April 7, 1930-November 1, 1972) was an American ecologist who made a major impact on many areas of community and population ecology. ... Community ecology is the study of the distribution, abundance, demography, and interactions between populations coexisting species. ... Daniel Simberloff Daniel Simberloff is perhaps best known as a student of the biologist E.O. Wilson and one of the co-authors of the theory of Island biogeography with writings such as the 1969 paper: Experimental Zoogeography of Islands: The Colonization of Empty Islands. ... E.O. Wilson with Dynastes hercules E. O. Wilson, or Edward Osborne Wilson, (born June 10, 1929) is an entomologist and biologist known for his work on ecology, evolution, and sociobiology. ... The SLOSS Debate was a debate in ecology and conservation biology during the 1970s and 1980s as to whether a Single Large or Several Small (SLOSS) reserves was a superior means of conserving biodiversity in a fragmented habitat. ... Jared Diamond Jared Mason Diamond (born September 10, 1937) is an American author, evolutionary biologist, physiologist, and biogeographer. ...

MacArthur's students Stephen Hubbell and Michael Rosenzweig combined theoretical and practical elements into works that extended MacArthur and Wilson's Island Biogeography Theory - Hubbell with his Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography and Rosenzweig with is Species Diversity in Space and Time. Michael Rosenzweig is an ecologist at the University of Arizona who has developed and popularized the concept of Reconciliation Ecology. ... The unified neutral theory of biodiversity and biogeography (here Unified Theory or UNTB) is a theory and the title of a monograph[1] by ecologist Stephen Hubbell. ...

Other key theoretical ecologists include Robert May, who has been described as being "one of the best minds in ecology" and David Tilman. Robert McCredie Bob May, Baron May of Oxford OM AC Kt (born 8 January 1936 in Australia) is a cross-bench member of the British House of Lords and President of the Royal Society. ...

Another tradition is the consideration of life and its interactions with environment from a metaphysical standpoint. An example question that has been addressed in this field is one posed by physicist Erwin Schrödinger who asked, "What is life?" Life is a multi-faceted concept. ... // Metaphysics (Greek words meta = after/beyond and physics = nature) is a branch of philosophy concerned with the study of first principles and being (ontology). ... Erwin Schrödinger, as depicted on the former Austrian 1000 Schilling bank note. ...

Theoretical biologist Robert Rosen tackled this question but reframed it in the process. In his 1991 book, Life Itself, Rosen suggests that a better question is, "Why are organisms different than machines?" His answer addresses the unfractionability, or self-causing unity, of life; he states "a material system is an organism if, and only if, it is closed to efficient causation." The supporting work behind this definition of life embodies his "relational theory of systems". The scientific paradigm behind this theory represents a radical departure from the mainstream mechanical and reductionist paradigm dating back to Newton and Descartes. Robert Rosen (June 27, 1934, Brooklyn, New York - December 28, 1998, Rochester, New York) was an American theoretical biologist and, later in life, a Professor of Biophysics at Dalhousie University until he retired. ... Sir Isaac Newton in Godfrey Knellers 1689 portrait Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1727 by the Julian calendar in use in England at the time; or 4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727 by the Gregorian calendar) was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, and alchemist who... René Descartes René Descartes (IPA: , March 31, 1596–February 11, 1650), also known as Cartesius, was a French philosopher, mathematician and part-time mercenary. ...

Theoretical ecologist Robert Ulanowicz builds on work by Rosen and others to develop a comprehensive "ecological metaphysic". In his book, Ecology, the Ascendent Perspective, Ulanowicz develops an ecological metaphysic and contrasts it with the older, mechanical Newtonian counterpart. In a 1999 article in the journal, BioSystems, Ulanowicz describes the Newtonian paradigm as one which treats systems as (1) deterministic and thus predictable, (2) closed to external influence and well-described with forces, (3) time-reversible, and (4) decomposable, fractionable or atomistic. He adds a 5th descriptor that states that "Newtonian laws are universal." In contrast, the ecological paradigm of systems he has developed treats systems as (1) indeterminate and thus unpredictable, (2) contingent or best described with propensities, (3) historical and time-irreversible, and (4) organic and not readily decomposable. He suggests that laws derived from an ecological metaphysic are "granular", hierarchical and scale-dependent rather than universal. 1999 is a common year starting on Friday of the Common Era, and was designated the International Year of Older Persons by the United Nations. ...

Rosen and Ulanowicz share the view that an understanding of life is not something readily gained by extension or extrapolation of a mechanical approach to systems. Instead, each has worked to develop a new paradigm that differs from the mechanical paradigm and then has attempted to demonstrate how this new paradigm is better for understanding and explaining the special properties and dynamics that life exhibits. If one were to reverse this process - to ask what implications this new ecological paradigm might have for understanding, conceiving or designing machines - the work of theoretical ecology may hold important insights for human technology and its evolution.