Scale is widely recognized today as an important concept in ecology because the scale of investigation determines the patterns and processes that can be observed. Ecological investigations can produce different outcomes depending on the scale at which observations are made, and ecological disagreements have occurred simply because investigators addressed the same question using different scales. Here I draw on quail research to illustrate the importance of scale in ecological studies and how lack of scale consideration can lead to discord. I use northern bobwhite (Colinus virginianus) as the focal species and discuss 2 areas of investigation (woody‐cover requirements and influence of rainfall) that are characterized by confusion and disagreement but where consideration of scale brings clarity. In the process, I discover 2 formerly unrecognized patterns: northern bobwhite use of woody cover is inversely related with spatial extent of observation, and the influence of rainfall on northern bobwhite abundance decreases with decreasing spatial extent. In both cases, consideration of scale clarifies muddled knowledge and creates a unified framework for management. Future ecological investigations should formulate research questions within a scale framework, provide an explicit statement of scale in methods, and interpret findings within a scale context to help advance wildlife science and management. © 2020 The Wildlife Society.

中文翻译：

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生态矛盾与规模在科学探究中的重要性

今天，规模被公认为生态学中的一个重要概念，因为调查的规模决定了可以观察到的模式和过程。生态调查会根据观测的规模而产生不同的结果，而生态问题的发生仅仅是因为研究者使用不同的尺度来解决同一问题。在这里，我将根据鹌鹑研究来说明规模在生态学研究中的重要性，以及缺乏规模的考虑如何导致不和谐。我用北方鲍勃怀特（Colinus virginianus）作为重点物种，并讨论两个研究领域（木质覆盖要求和降雨的影响），这些领域的特征是混乱和分歧，但考虑到规模会带来清晰度。在此过程中，我发现了2种以前无法识别的模式：北部山白水木本植物的利用与观测空间范围成反比，并且降雨对北部山白水丰度的影响随着空间范围的减小而减小。在这两种情况下，规模的考虑都澄清了混乱的知识，并创建了统一的管理框架。未来的生态调查应在规模框架内提出研究问题，提供方法规模的明确说明，并在规模范围内解释发现，以帮助推进野生动植物科学和管理。©2020野生动物协会。