Ecosystems are cooperative. Landscapes are competitive!
Yes, there is competition in ecosystems, but it is not the norm. A niche represents stability, where each species is attracted by landmarks and pathways that reveal what they need to survive – but each are led by different aspects of similar landmarks and pathways to satisfy different needs. A woodpecker eats acorns that fall from an oak tree’s, while nuthatches eat the ants on the bark, and so on. Each has evolved to respond to different qualidelic messages that, for instance, a tree, projects.
It is only in a crisis when different species must compete – a long winter, maybe. And perhaps there is more intra-species competition than inter-species competition – some years there are only so many acorns to go around (this doesn’t happen in my Oak-filled backyard, though I wish it would).
So, having read the following paragraph by Jeremy Baumberg in Aeon magazine, I say that scientific “actors” do not make an ecosystem; each specialty is just a species competing against its own in whatever niche they find themselves.
“But these trends are Janus-faced. To understand why, one must recognize, first, that science is an ecosystem. Just like any other ecosystem, it is characterized by the push and pull among competing actors. Universities compete to ascend the research rankings. Scientific journals compete to publish the most relevant papers. Conference organizers compete for the most distinguished speakers. Journalists compete for scoops on the most important breakthroughs. Funders compete to identify and support the research that will produce the most significant advances in terms of social impact, security, or commercial profitability.”
— JEREMY J. BAUMBERG