Scholars and practitioners in the developing field of ecological economics are committed to drawing on ideas from both ecology and economics. The study of ecosystems is traditionally conducted through models of population dynamics, nutrient webs, energetics, foraging and reproduction strategies and coevolution. Economics is studied through the understanding of political economy, markets, institutions, input-output techniques, accounting, monetary and Keynesian models. Ecology provides links to other natural sciences, and economics to other social sciences, and each offers a number of methodological approaches to help in the evolution of ecological economics. However, there are conflicts between the two fields as well, especially between what each has historically seen as the right way of asking questions and arriving at answers, and in the methods each has for predicting consequences. This paper argues that there cannot be a single right way of knowing and predicting, and therefore calls on the field of ecological economics to adopt methodological diversity and a culturally adaptive approach.
