Cognitive dimensions, scales, and multidisciplinary coordinate systems in macroecosystem science

Over the past century, ecology has evolved from classical or fundamental ecological studies into a new stage of ecosystem ecology or ecosystem science. This evolution has laid the theoretical groundwork for large-scale and global ecological research, fostering an integration of biology, geography, and environmental science, and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration between natural sciences, humanities, and socio-economics. Throughout the process of integration, ecology has absorbed concepts from other disciplines to form a unique scientific knowledge and concept system framework. However, for certain concepts originating from other disciplines, such as "dimension" and "scale", their application and role in ecological research remain inadequately defined and understood. We systematically reviewed the origins and definitions of concepts such as "dimension", "scale" and "coordinate", and discussed their ecological implications in macroecosystem science. Furthermore, we explored ecosystem functions and processes across multiple disciplinary dimensions, and defined the cognitive and measurement scales of macroecosystems in terms of time, space, and organization. Based on this analysis, we integrated traditional coordinate systems to develop a multi-dimensional coordinate framework for ecosystem science, aiming to provide a multi-dimensional conceptual framework for the construction of the theoretical system of ecosystem science.