Ecophysics reload—exploring applications of theoretical physics in macroecology

Abstract

Physics and ecology focus on different domains of nature and have developed under distinct scientific paradigms. Still, both share critical features, such as dealing with systems of irreducible complexity and inherent uncertainty at a fundamental level. Physics has embraced such complexity earlier and has devised robust analytical approaches to describe general principles of its systems, a path that ecosystem ecology has tracked, but organism-based ecology has only started to. Here, we outline approaches from physics – from classical to quantum mechanics – to address ecological questions that deal with emergent patterns of biodiversity, such as species’ distribution, niche, and trait variation, which are of particular interest to community ecology, biogeography, and macroecology. These approaches can be further extended, which would provide these fields with a rationale common to other scientific fields within and outside ecology.