Where Is Natural History in Ecological, Evolutionary, and Behavioral Science?*
Where Is Natural History in Ecological, Evolutionary, and Behavioral Science?*
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自然历史在生态、进化和行为科学中的地位如何？*
作者：
J. Travis
自然历史是对自然的仔细观察，无论自然在哪里。最终，这就是生态学、进化论和行为科学应该解释的内容。由于过程和模式之间的复杂路径，很难单独使用自然历史来检验这些领域的假设。很少有模式可以通过一种且只有一种假设来预测，因此实验几乎总是必要的。然而，实验结果的稳健性取决于实验条件反映自然历史整合的程度。博物学对于我们如何将克罗的原则应用到我们的工作中也发挥着至关重要的作用。克罗的原则是，科学家从一个重要的假设开始，找到一个系统（有机体、栖息地、物种相互作用）来测试它。然而，自然历史对于了解这个问题是否适用于系统或者我们是否将这个问题强加给系统至关重要。开始研究的价值不是通过识别一个有趣的问题并寻找正确的系统，而是通过识别一个有趣的系统来提出正确的问题。这种方法存在狭隘主义的危险，只有掌握理论和博物学才能避免这种危险。对这两个领域的掌控使大自然能够告诉我们要问哪个问题，而不是要求大自然回答我们认为最有趣的问题。
Natural history is the careful observation of nature, wherever nature is. Ultimately, it is what ecological, evolutionary, and behavioral science are supposed to explain. It is difficult to use natural history alone to test hypotheses in these fields because of the complex paths between process and pattern. Few patterns are predicted by one and only one hypothesis, so experiments are almost always necessary. However, the robustness of experimental results depends on how well experimental conditions reflect the integration of natural history. Natural history also plays a vital role in how well we can apply Krogh’s principle to our work. Krogh’s principle is that scientists begin with an important hypothesis and find a system (organism, habitat, species interaction) with which to test it. However, natural history is essential for knowing whether the question applies to the system or whether we are forcing the question on the system. There is value in beginning one’s research not by identifying an interesting question and searching for the right system but by identifying an interesting system in which to ask the right question. This approach carries the danger of parochialism, which can be avoided only by having a command of theory as well as natural history. A command of both areas allows nature to tell us which question to ask instead of demanding that nature answer the question we find most interesting.