Concept and Terminology of Homogeneity and Heterogeneity in Ecology

Abstract

The terms of an ideal scientific language and the concepts they express are clear and precise. Ambiguity is a barrier to progress. Ecologists have long felt the lack of such a terminology appropriate to a rigorous science. His torical evidence of the problem is readily seen in the vagaries of the meanngs of words such as association, community, competition, niche, and a host of others.