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Updated: Jun 5, 2026

Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
Published on: October 4, 2024
Macroecological pluralism
Marco Túlio Pacheco Coelho1, José Alexandre Felizola Diniz-Filho2
1Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland. marcotpcoelho@gmail.com.
Abstract:
Theory-based and model-based reasoning shape macroecology: one derives models from general principles, the other builds models around data. We argue these are not rival traditions but interacting positions along a continuum of formalization. This pluralism is macroecology's strength: by allowing theories and models to exchange roles as sources of constraint, synthesis and innovation, the field can confront the complexity of natural systems and generate explanations that are cumulative and predictive.
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