Fundamental ecology is fundamental

Courchamp F., Dunne J., Le Maho Y., May R.M., Thébaud C. & Hochberg M.E. Fundamental Ecology is Fundamental. (2014). Trends in Ecology and Evolution DOI 10.1016/j.tree.2014.11.005

Highlights:

• Fundamental ecology is the basis for understanding our complex biological world.

• Funding for fundamental research over the past few decades has been at lower levels than that for other major research categories.

• We provide several ways forward to promote fundamental research in the future.

• Fundamental ecology is a multi-actor problem involving scientists, research institutions, funding bodies, and politicians.

The primary reasons for conducting fundamental research are satisfying curiosity, acquiring knowledge, and achieving understanding. Here we develop why we believe it is essential to basic ecological research, despite increased impetus for ecologists to conduct and present their research in the light of potential applications. This includes the understanding of our environment, for intellectual, economical, social, and political reasons, and as a major source of innovation. We contend that we should focus less on short-term, objective-driven research and more on creativity and exploratory analyses, quantitatively estimate the benefits of fundamental research for society, and better explain the nature and importance of fundamental ecology to students, politicians, decision makers, and the general public. Our perspective and underlying arguments should also apply to evolutionary biology and to many of the other biological and physical sciences.

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