The Peaks and Ranges of Ecosystem Models

This response to commentaries by Micah Muscolino, Judith Shapiro, Chris Courtney, and Peter Perdue considers whether An Ecological History of Modern China is too political and not ecological enough or too ecological and not political enough; whether it is biased either in favor of or against the Chinese Communist Party regime; whether ecologically based periodization provides a valuable new perspective on the history of the People’s Republic of China; whether ecological change would be better illuminated if viewed at a different scale; and whether valid or useful history can be written primarily using scientific papers available on the internet.