Are ecologists conducting research at the optimal scale?

Abstract Aim The spatial extent (scale) at which landscape attributes are measured has a strong impact on inferred species–landscape relationships. Consequently, researchers commonly measure landscape variables at multiple scales to select one scale (the ‘scale of effect’) that yields the strongest species–landscape relationship. Scales of effect observed in multiscale studies may not be true scales of effect if scales are arbitrarily selected and/or are too narrow in range. Miscalculation of the scale of effect may explain why the theoretical relationship between scale of effect and species traits, e.g. dispersal distance, is not empirically well supported. Location World‐wide. Methods Using data from 583…

• NS
  Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada