<p>I think pointing to specific articles is fine. It's fairly common here for readers to quote sections of textbooks and ask for explanations of concepts that aren't clear. <a href="https://stats.stackexchange.com/questions/459501/a-smaller-dataset-is-better-is-this-statement-false-in-statistics-how-to-refut">Questions calling out bad statistical arguments from scientists are not common but also accepted</a>, so I think you're probably on safe ground asking to understand/critique methods from a paper.</p>
<p>That said, while quoting a paragraph or three should be fine, it would probably go too far if that text wasn't sufficiently comprehensive for readers to understand your question. If after reading your question, readers still need to refer to the paper or ask for more context to understand, it may be a poor fit for SE.</p>
<p>But some of us here are ecologists! So there may be members who have the background to answer even without a detailed explanation of field-specific concepts (though minimising or explaining such jargon is a good idea).</p>
