Ecological Field Theory: the concept and field tests

Broad-scale concepts for interactions of climate, topography, and biota at biome transitions

“…Although this definition invokes the further definition of optimum growth, it has become widely accepted as a pragmatic expedient. This definition is consistent with the computation of stress in EFT applications by Sharpe et al (1986) and Walker et al (1989). Extending the concepts of stress and optimum performance to broader scales such as biome transition zones involves an unravelling of physiological and competitive resource interactions.…”

“…One of the relatively recent approaches that may be relevant at broad scales is ecological field theory Sharpe et al 1985Sharpe et al , 1986Walker et al 1989). Ecological field theory (EFT) was originally proposed as a methodology to describe spatial interactions between individuals with overlapping zones of influence and resource competition.…”

“…When implemented at the stand level, EFT provides the basis for describing spatial interactions between plants of different size, function, and life-form (Walker et al 1989). At the biome level, the functional emphasis shifts from individual growth to constraints determining the limits of life-form representation at biome boundaries.…”

A novel application of the ecological field theory to the definition of physiographic and climatic potential areas of forest species

“…The EFT considers that any plant is surrounded by a circular influence field whose size (domain) depends on the size of the plant, and whose intensity decreases with distance (Walker et al 1989). Our approach proposes that each observation (plot defining the habitat) behaves in the parametric space as each plant does in the real one.…”

“…The concept behind EFT was based on the common field theory of physics and was developed by Walker et al (1989), who established its key components: the influence domain of individuals, the field intensity between domains, the influence surface and the intensity of interactions.…”