| Summary: | Most of our experiments do not adequately reflect what is going on in the natural environment. Apart from many other short-comings we tend to work with rigorously constant and tightly controlled conditions, whereas in nature many variables fluctuate at different frequency and amplitude. Thus, our results typically inform about the potential impact of a factor, but not the real one. Environmental fluctuations are generated by non-living mechanisms (upwelling, currents, seasons, NAO) interacting with biological processes such as photosynthesis and respiration. In addition, interactions among drivers and among the responding species may very substantially modulate the single factor/single species effects identified by most of our studies. Only if we up-scale simultaneously along several dimensions can we hope to produce results which advance our understanding of natural and anthropogenic change in ecosystems. Focussing on the presently popular field of ocean acidification I will highlight the scales of natural fluctuations in pH and/or pCO2. I will then summarize the very sparse knowledge on the biological relevance of stressor fluctuations. Finally, I will conclude by some ecommendations for a more holistic, less reductionist, and hopefully more realistic research.
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