Some Conceptions of Time in Ecology

Abstract

Whether one is dealing with variations in the size of populations, changes in landscapes, or modifications in the composition of species, all these phenomena are characterized by their temporal structures. Although, like geology, ecology is a historical science, it is also a science of processes like physiology. It is in the combination of these two aspects, and by using both of these paradigms, that the present paper looks for the conceptions of time specific to ecology. Thus, overall representations of ecological phenomena have brought several conceptions of time into play, which can be distinguished in terms of the timescale, its rhythm and its structure. Schematically, descriptions of ecological processes have been founded successively on the idea of a cycle, then on the idea of organic growth, before coming around to unpredictability and chaos. At a more detailed level, this succession of paradigms goes hand in hand with the continued use of concepts that were characteristic of a previous paradigm. The success of some classical concepts can thus be measured by their ability to be inscribed into a new theoretical framework.