Category
Ecology
Explore the 6 entries currently assigned to this category. These counts describe this curated catalogue, not the size or rate of change of the field itself.
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Not a fact anymore
Woody plants obtain their water mainly from soil and use water stored in bedrock only as an emergency reserve during severe drought.
What we know now
Water stored in weathered and fractured bedrock can be a routine part of the water supply for trees and shrubs, not just an emergency reserve during severe drought. Its importance varies with geology, climate and rooting depth.
- Status
- Narrowed
- Category
- Ecology
- Accepted for
- Not quantified
- Changed approximately
- 2021
Not a fact anymore
Ecological succession naturally ends in one permanent and stable climax community.
What we know now
Succession can follow multiple pathways and may produce different long-lasting states. Disturbance, climate, species arrival, historical contingency, feedbacks, and human activity can prevent or redirect any single endpoint.
- Status
- Superseded
- Category
- Ecology
- Accepted for
- ≈55 years
- Changed approximately
- Mid–late 20th century
Not a fact anymore
The great ocean fisheries are effectively inexhaustible because human catches are insignificant compared with the abundance of fish.
What we know now
Fishing can reduce marine populations below productive levels, collapse individual stocks, alter food webs, and cause long-lasting depletion. Whether a stock recovers depends on biology, habitat, environmental conditions, and management.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Ecology
- Accepted for
- ≈120 years
- Changed approximately
- Mid–late 20th century
Not a fact anymore
Predators merely reduce prey populations and therefore have no positive role in maintaining ecological communities.
What we know now
Predators can regulate dominant competitors, alter prey behavior, sustain species diversity, and trigger effects across food webs. Removing a key predator can simplify or reorganize an ecosystem rather than merely increasing prey abundance.
- Status
- Overturned
- Category
- Ecology
- Accepted for
- ≈116 years
- Changed approximately
- 1960s–1980s
Not a fact anymore
Wildland fire is always an ecological disaster and healthy landscapes should be protected from every fire.
What we know now
Fire can be destructive, especially when unusually severe or threatening people, but it is also a recurring ecological process in many forests, grasslands, shrublands, and wetlands. Numerous species and ecosystems are adapted to particular fire frequencies, seasons, and intensities.
- Status
- Narrowed
- Category
- Ecology
- Accepted for
- ≈80 years
- Changed approximately
- 1950s–1970s
Not a fact anymore
Luxuriant tropical rainforest was widely taken as evidence that the underlying soil was exceptionally fertile and could remain highly productive after clearing.
What we know now
Tropical soils vary enormously. Many rainforests grow on old, deeply weathered soils that are poor in readily available nutrients, with productivity sustained by rapid recycling through biomass, litter, roots, fungi, and microbes. Volcanic, alluvial, and younger tropical soils can be naturally fertile.
- Status
- Narrowed
- Category
- Ecology
- Accepted for
- Not quantified
- Changed approximately
- 1930s–mid-20th century
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