11.3 Gaps oj Knowledge and Research Recommendations
275
For a joint project, a number of meetings are necessary to advance the collaboration (see Sect. 11.1). If, as in ELA W A T, the sub-projects are carried out by
institutions from several places, the requirements for travel time and costs grow in
addition.
With all efforts for the organisation of a joint project, it will never be possible
to reach all scientists involved to the same degree. The insight into the needs of
interdisciplinary collaboration does not exist automatically and the motivation for
co-operation can well be different. A joint project cannot enforce collaboration,
but provide a framework for a facilitated collaboration. Also for this reason, the
initial stages of planning and conceptualising are significant. Since all-embracing
criteria are essential in a joint project, the sub-project leaders cannot have the final
say for all aspects. This requires decisions during the planning stage as well.
Thus a joint project is also more demanding in organisational terms than single
projects. Extra time is required for the necessary contact and communication between the disciplines involved for any scientific or organisational matters.
11.3
Gaps of Knowledge and Research Recommendations
ELA W A T and the other parts of the "Ecosystem Research Wadden Sea" have
been a decisive step forward in the investigation of the Wadden Sea. Without this
research scheme, our understanding of the system would not have advanced as
much in the same time. Still, the queries never stop with what has been achieved
and research always leaves new questions. In the previous chapters suggestions for
future research have been given here and there, which are compiled below.
We regard an outlook on future research in the Wadden Sea as an integral part
of the synthesis we have provided here. In spite of the considerable extent of
ELA W A T in terms of finances and personnel involved, many aspects could only
be touched upon. There will always be restrictions to science, so that it is essential
to focus the available budgets on meaningful questions. Therefore we recommend
topics based on the experiences and understanding we have gained now. They are
combined into three major aspects.
Can small-scale processes be extrapolated?
The search for possible emergent properties of the Wadden Sea ecosystem, as e.g.
stability properties, required an extrapolation of results, which has been carefully
attempted in Chap. 9. But the extrapolation of research results derived from investigations on small temporal and spatial scales to phenomena or properties on larger
scales is, if at all, only possible with great care (Hall et al. 1994; Flach 1996;
Thrush et al. 1997). The results presented in the other chapters of this book show
great variations in abiotic and biotic parameters over and over again, so that a high
temporal and spatial variability characterizes the studied ecosystem. Thus, how
representative are results from small-scale studies? Whether results can be extrapolated is especially crucial for studies on interactions, as these are often methodologically constrained to a small-scale.
275
For a joint project, a number of meetings are necessary to advance the collaboration (see Sect. 11.1). If, as in ELA W A T, the sub-projects are carried out by
institutions from several places, the requirements for travel time and costs grow in
addition.
With all efforts for the organisation of a joint project, it will never be possible
to reach all scientists involved to the same degree. The insight into the needs of
interdisciplinary collaboration does not exist automatically and the motivation for
co-operation can well be different. A joint project cannot enforce collaboration,
but provide a framework for a facilitated collaboration. Also for this reason, the
initial stages of planning and conceptualising are significant. Since all-embracing
criteria are essential in a joint project, the sub-project leaders cannot have the final
say for all aspects. This requires decisions during the planning stage as well.
Thus a joint project is also more demanding in organisational terms than single
projects. Extra time is required for the necessary contact and communication between the disciplines involved for any scientific or organisational matters.
11.3
Gaps of Knowledge and Research Recommendations
ELA W A T and the other parts of the "Ecosystem Research Wadden Sea" have
been a decisive step forward in the investigation of the Wadden Sea. Without this
research scheme, our understanding of the system would not have advanced as
much in the same time. Still, the queries never stop with what has been achieved
and research always leaves new questions. In the previous chapters suggestions for
future research have been given here and there, which are compiled below.
We regard an outlook on future research in the Wadden Sea as an integral part
of the synthesis we have provided here. In spite of the considerable extent of
ELA W A T in terms of finances and personnel involved, many aspects could only
be touched upon. There will always be restrictions to science, so that it is essential
to focus the available budgets on meaningful questions. Therefore we recommend
topics based on the experiences and understanding we have gained now. They are
combined into three major aspects.
Can small-scale processes be extrapolated?
The search for possible emergent properties of the Wadden Sea ecosystem, as e.g.
stability properties, required an extrapolation of results, which has been carefully
attempted in Chap. 9. But the extrapolation of research results derived from investigations on small temporal and spatial scales to phenomena or properties on larger
scales is, if at all, only possible with great care (Hall et al. 1994; Flach 1996;
Thrush et al. 1997). The results presented in the other chapters of this book show
great variations in abiotic and biotic parameters over and over again, so that a high
temporal and spatial variability characterizes the studied ecosystem. Thus, how
representative are results from small-scale studies? Whether results can be extrapolated is especially crucial for studies on interactions, as these are often methodologically constrained to a small-scale.