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 robustanalytical approaches todescribe general principles of its systems, a path that ecosystem ecology has tracked, but organism-based ecology has only started to.Here, we outlineapproaches 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, whichare of particular interest tocommunity ecology, biogeography, and macroecology. These approaches can be further extended, which would providethese fields with a rationale common to other scientificfieldswithin and outside ecology.