Applying the principles of population biology: assessment and recommendations

The solutions to practical problems have not involved the ready application of a set of firm principles of population biology. This paper explores several possible reasons why this is so, evaluates several weaknesses in the ways in which theoretical principles are currently developed, and suggests several modifications of our approach to both the development of theory and the application of the resulting principles of population biology to practical problems. The authors recommend an approach in which results from applications are monitored so that they can form an empirical extension of the process of developing theoretical principles. This approach would both foster development of a theory that could be more useful in the solution of practical problems in applied population biology and provide additional empirical support for the theory itself. In the development of a "general, predictive' theory, they recommend 1) closer adherence to the more restrictive definition of the word "general' (ie holds for many specific cases) and 2) an appreciation for the weak implications of correct predictions. -from Authors