Editing Theoretical ecology (section)

==History==
{{See also|History of ecology}}

Theoretical ecology draws on pioneering work done by [[G. Evelyn Hutchinson]] and his students.  Brothers [[Howard T. Odum|H.T. Odum]] and [[Eugene Odum|E.P. Odum]] are generally recognised as the founders of modern theoretical ecology. [[Robert MacArthur]] brought theory to [[community ecology]]. [[Daniel Simberloff]] was the student of [[E.O. Wilson]], with whom MacArthur collaborated on ''[[The Theory of Island Biogeography]]'', a seminal work in the development of theoretical ecology.<ref name=Cuddington>Cuddington K and Beisner BE (2005) [https://books.google.com/books?id=5J0MhQaiP-sC&q=intitle:Ecological+intitle:paradigms+intitle:lost ''Ecological paradigms lost: routes of theory change''] Academic Press. {{ISBN|978-0-12-088459-9}}.</ref>

Simberloff added statistical rigour to [[experimental ecology]] and was a key figure in the [[SLOSS debate]], about whether it is preferable to protect a single large or several small reserves.<ref name=Soule>{{cite journal |vauthors=Soulé ME, Simberloff D | year = 1986 | title = What do genetics and ecology tell us about the design of nature reserves? | url = http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26318/1/0000405.pdf | journal = Biological Conservation | volume = 35 | issue = 1| pages = 19–40 | doi = 10.1016/0006-3207(86)90025-X | hdl = 2027.42/26318 | hdl-access = free }}</ref> This resulted in the supporters of [[Jared Diamond]]'s community assembly rules defending their ideas through Neutral Model Analysis.<ref name=Soule />  Simberloff also played a key role in the (still ongoing) debate on the utility of corridors for connecting isolated reserves.

[[Stephen P. Hubbell]] and [[Michael Rosenzweig]] combined theoretical and practical elements into works that extended MacArthur and Wilson's Island Biogeography Theory - Hubbell with his [[Unified neutral theory of biodiversity|Unified Neutral Theory of Biodiversity and Biogeography]] and Rosenzweig with his Species Diversity in Space and Time.