Remarks on terminology and the description of ecological systems

The present paper deals with general problems of ecological terminology and methodology, focussing on the thesis that the imprecise definition of basic terms impedes the scientific development of ecology and its applications in all relevant fields of society. Several problems of practical relevance arise, in particular with the use of different definitions for the same term, with confusion between basic assumptions of definitions and questions of research, with contradictions in basic assumptions within one and the same definition, and with the fact that many definitions are not practicable. Although many authors, especially in the first half of this century, have tried to assess these problems and to establish a sound basis for terminology and methodology in ecology, no satisfactory solution has been found as yet. The main arguments are illustrated with the example of the term “ecosystem”. In the final section of this paper some proposals for an improved terminology and its application in ecological research are presented.