Interdisciplinary Fields as Ecological Communities

Susu Nousala, Thomas J. Marlowe

This work is a discussion, informed by observational field and literature discussions, regarding possible existing conditions that are continuously at play within and between the processes and development of interdisciplinary fields. Specifically, this paper focuses on the virtual intellectual field and the physical field of communities in process. Particular focus has been given to the movement and oscillation of the relationships and interplay, with resources in practice, between fields and states in transition, that respectively, create ongoing processes that may be identifiable as interactive sets of evolving actions. These processes may in turn provide clues/insights into the nexus interdisciplinary breakaways that then go on to formulate new evolving sets of recognizable, ecological community structures. These newly formed sets of community adaptations formulate and develop stability through acquisition of relevant resources, and become new fields of inquiry and disciplines in their own right. The pathways for such investigation are difficult to discover, since much of the interaction is hidden or indecipherable. It is however, still possible to apply rigor to the discussion and argue that the development of ecological communities as understood in existing biological structural discussions (Ing 2016; Nousala 2014; Marlowe et al., 2011; Hall et al., Nousala et al., 2005; Holland 1973) can inform investigations into the developmental processes of interdisciplinary fields

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