An ecological correlation is a correlation based on group averages. Ecological correlations as such can be misleading, because the variability in the underlying individual data is lost by using averages. In interpretation of the results, there is a danger of committing the ecological fallacy: data is analysed at one level and inferences are made to another level (Robinson 1950). In 2-level mode...

09:20 Christopher Noto and Ari Grossman Using functional morphology to compare dinosaur ecological diversity Studies of ecological diversity seek to quantify functional groups to understand community structure. Fossil communities represent a special challenge because direct measurement of the once living ecosystem is impossible, and we must rely on indirect methods to infer ecology. Fortunately...

Is it better to have a heart attack in the United States or Canada? Ecological studies are epidemiological evaluations in which the unit of analysis is populations, or groups of people, rather than individuals.1 They can answer important questions such as the question posed above that cannot easily be answered using any other form of study design. Ecological studies are conducted by researchers...

Evidence correlates physical activity, psychological restoration, and social health to proximity to parks and sites of recreation. The purpose of this study was to identify perceived constraints to park use in low-income communities facing significant health disparities, but with proximate access to underutilized parks. The authors used a series of focus groups with families, teens, and older a...

The endophytic lifestyle has played an important role in the evolution of the morphology of reproductive structures (body) in one of the most problematic groups in fungal classification, the Leotiomycetes (Ascomycota). Mapping fungal morphologies to two groups in the Leiotiomycetes, the Rhytismatales and Hemiphacidiaceae reveals significant divergence in body size, shape and complexity. Mapping...

Biotic recoveries following mass extinctions are characterized by a process in which whole ecologies are reconstructed from low-diversity systems, often characterized by opportunistic groups. The recovery process provides an unexpected window to ecosystem dynamics. In many aspects, recovery is very similar to ecological succession, but important differences are also apparently linked to the inn...

INTRODUCTION Biological communities present in soil are essential to sustainable and productive agricultural practices; however, an accurate determination of the ecological status of agricultural soils remains to date an elusive task. An ideal indicator should be pervasive, play a relevant role in the ecosystem, show a rapid and proportional answer to external perturbations and be easily and ec...