From the text 'We investigated the ecological literature to discover whether concepts and organisms were indeed paired. With this retrospective examination, we hope to raise ecologists' awareness of scale-dependent relationships among organisms and ecological concepts and the implications of these relationships. The tangibility and familiarity of the organisms the ecologist counts or manipulates can lead to a false sense of objectivity. Considering scale in an explicit manner should result in mesured judgement instead of the happenstance of unwitting choice...' © American Institute of Biological Sciences. Abstract reproduced by permission.