On the other hand, typically microbial population biologists (unlike microbial ecologists) are less concerned with questions of the role of microorganisms in ecosystem ecology, which is the study of nutrient cycling and energy movement between biotic as well as abiotic components of ecosystems.
The microorganisms in such endeavors consequently should be recognized as organisms rather than simply as molecular or evolutionary reductionist model systems.
Because the point of departure of these potentially disparate emphases can be somewhat arbitrary, there exist vague and not universally accepted delimits around what the discipline of microbial population biology does and does not constitute.
A Microbial Population Biology Gordon Research Conference is held every odd year, to date in New England (and usually in New Hampshire).
Firmly founded in evolutionary biology and with a strongly integrative approach, past meetings have covered topics ranging from the dynamics and genetics of adaptation to the evolution of mutation rate, community ecology, evolutionary genomics, altruism, and epidemiology.