Connecting hypotheses across research disciplines, based on a hierarchy of concepts. The figure synthesises in part the contributions by all participants on how to think about connecting research fields/disciplines with overarching concepts. Each specific hypothesis (at the bottom), as typically applied and formulated in a given field, can be seen as an avatar or sub-hypothesis of a more general hypotheses (see: hierarchy-of-hypotheses approach) or emanating from more general concepts in ecology. The more general the hypotheses and concepts become, the more the overlap across disciplines grows, until borders may disappear altogether (source: Maud Bernard-Verdier).