Does population ecology have general laws?

There is a widespread opinion among ecologists that ecology lacks general l aws. In this paper I argue that this opinion is mistaken. Taking the case o f population dynamics. I point out that there are several very general law- like propositions that provide the theoretical basis for most population dy namics models that were developed to address specific issues. Some of these foundational principles, like the law of exponential growth. are logically very similar to certain laws of physics (Newton's law of inertia, for exam ple. is almost a direct analogue of exponential growth). [ discuss two othe r principles (population self-limitation and resource-consumer oscillations ), as well as the more elementary postulates that underlie them. None of th e "laws" that I propose for population ecology are new. Collectively ecolog ists have been using these general principles in guiding development of the ir models and experiments since the days of Lotka. Volterra, and Gause.