Biodiversity across spatial and temporal scales: problems and opportunities

Both researchers and practitioners confront difficulties when addressing issues that underlie efforts to maintain biological diversity in managed forests. Many difficulties are conceptual but encouraged by practical concerns. They can be loosely categorized into three broad themes: (1) simplification of complexity, (2) loosely defined concepts, and (3) categorization and isolation. Simplified research and management are contrary to maintaining complexity and diversity; loosely specified concepts hinder translation of research into management action; and isolated, neatly categorized studies create management problems when fine-scale studies are transferred to broad-scale management. We review the scales that nature gives us and the scales we construct, then illustrate how differences in given and constructed scales impede research and management. We suggest some steps towards solution that can aid the contribution of reliable knowledge to management and reduce elements of risk associated with management actions. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.