Critical Issues of Scale in Paleoecology

J BRET BENNINGTON,1* WILLIAM A. DIMICHELE,2 CATHERINE BADGLEY,3 RICHARD K. BAMBACH,2 PAUL M. BARRETT,4 ANNA K. BEHRENSMEYER,2 RENÉ BOBE,5 ROBYN J. BURNHAM,3 EDWARD B. DAESCHLER,6 JAN VAN DAM,7 JUSSI T. ERONEN,8 DOUGLAS H. ERWIN,2 SETH FINNEGAN,9 STEVEN M. HOLLAND,5 GENE HUNT,2 DAVID JABLONSKI,10 STEPHEN T. JACKSON,11 BONNIE F. JACOBS,12 SUSAN M. KIDWELL,10 PAUL L. KOCH,13 MICHAL J. KOWALEWSKI,14 CONRAD C. LABANDEIRA,2 CINDY V. LOOY,2 S. KATHLEEN LYONS,2 PHILIP M. NOVACK-GOTTSHALL,15 RICHARD POTTS,2 PETER D. ROOPNARINE,16 CAROLINE A.E. STRÖMBERG,17 HANS-DIETER SUES,2 PETER J. WAGNER,2 PETER WILF,18 and SCOTT L. WING2 1Hofstra University, Department of Geology, Hempstead, New York 11549, USA; 2Smithsonian Institution, Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., USA; 3University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA; 4Natural History Museum, London, UK; 5University of Georgia, Athens, USA; 6Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; 7Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam, Netherlands; 8University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; 9Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, USA; 10University of Chicago, Illinois, USA; 11University of Wyoming, Laramie, USA; 12Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas, USA; 13University of California, Santa Cruz, USA; 14Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, USA; 15University of West Georgia, Carrollton, USA; 16California Academy of Sciences, San Francisco, USA; 17University of Washington, Seattle, USA; 18Pennsylvania State University, University Park, USA e-mail: [email protected]