Hierarchy theory is a means of studying ecological systems in which the relationship between all of the components is of great complexity. Hierarchy theory focuses on levels of organization and issues of scale, with a specific focus on the role of the observer in the definition of the system.[1] Complexity in this context does not refer to an intrinsic property of the system but to the possibility of representing the systems in a plurality of non-equivalent ways depending on the pre-analytical choices of the observer. Instead of analyzing the whole structure, hierarchy theory refers to the analysis of hierarchical levels, and the interactions between them.
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References
Further reading
- Brooks, Daniel Stephen (August 2014). The concept of levels of organization in the biological sciences (Ph.D. thesis). Bielefeld: Bielefeld University. OCLC 942715109.
- Eronen, Markus I. (August 2014). "Levels of organization: a deflationary account". Biology and Philosophy. 30 (1): 39–58. doi:10.1007/s10539-014-9461-z. S2CID 145635601.
- Potochnik, Angela; McGill, Brian J. (January 2012). "The limitations of hierarchical organization" (PDF). Philosophy of Science. 79 (1): 120–140. doi:10.1086/663237. JSTOR 663237. S2CID 123858030.
- Ahl, Valerie; Allen, Timothy F. H. (1996). Hierarchy theory: a vision, vocabulary, and epistemology. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0231084803. OCLC 34149766.
- Allen, Timothy F. H.; Hoekstra, Thomas W. (2015) [1992]. Toward a unified ecology. Complexity in ecological systems series (2nd ed.). New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 9780231168885. OCLC 920475391.
- O'Neill, Robert V.; Deangelis, Donald Lee; Waide, J. B.; Allen, Timothy F. H. (1986). A hierarchical concept of ecosystems. Monographs in population biology. Vol. 23. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. ISBN 069108436X. OCLC 13526197.
- Allen, Timothy F. H; Starr, Thomas B. (2017) [1982]. Hierarchy: perspectives for ecological complexity (2nd ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press. doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226489711.001.0001. ISBN 978-0226489544. OCLC 967919711.
- Guttman, Burton S. (February 1976). "Is 'levels of organization' a useful biological concept?". BioScience. 26 (2): 112–113. doi:10.2307/1297326. JSTOR 1297326.
- Pattee, Howard Hunt (1973). Hierarchy theory: the challenge of complex systems. International library of systems theory and philosophy. New York: George Braziller. ISBN 080760674X. OCLC 638741.