Foundations of Ecology and Biogeography
1700s
1781
Linnaeus "every seed shall find its good soil”, Systematics
1791
leClark and Buffon nature is in a perpetual state of flux, Animals are small in the new world, Species on different continencts must have common origin, Different regions (even with similar climates) are inhabited by distinct biotas, Continents were formally connected – but did not move, “Vicariant Event” – where a population divided can result in changes to each new group
1798
Malthus Essay on population Discussed carrying capacity Exponential growth Inspired Darwin
1778
Yohan Reinhold Forster Traveled with Capt. Cook Vegetation varies by climate and environment Type of vegetation determines type of fauna Same species can vary by climate
1800s
1809
"Lamarck" disussed concept of heredity of traits aquired during an individual's lifetime
1805
Alexander von Humboldt Defined isobar and isotherm, “Father of phytogeography” (Brown and Lemolina)
1820
Agustin de Candolle Made distinctions between habitats and biogeographic regions. Refuted single origin of all plants - described instead that plants are "product of joint influence of temperature, soil, and the particular composition of moisture on the earth."
1844
Edward Forbes Increase in depth synonymous to increase in latitude
1853
James Dwight Dana Mountain building, volcanic activity, origin of continents, Limiting factor for northward movement is minimum temperature
1853
Joseph Dalton Hooker Challenged Darwin’s ideas about dispersal, Coined what is now recognized as “vicariance hypothosis”
1858
Phillip Scelltey Applied Buffon’s law and classified world’s regions (focused on bird diversity), Interrelationships between areas can be defined by endemic species
1856
Asa Gray Made guide to north American species, Recognized similarity between north American and Asiatic species
1859
Darwin Barriers to migration allow time for natural selection, Single centers of creation, then radiation, Individuals near edges are more ancient than those at center, Dispersal is important for evolution
1859
Alfred Russel Wallace “father of biogeography”, Wallace’s line, Peer of Darwin
1874
Herbert Spencer first said "survival of the fittest", Populations adjust to create stable equilibrium of birth and death rates - population control
1876
Heinrich Haeckel Coined term Ecology (“oikos”), Evolution makes sense of biology
1887
Stephen Alfred Forbes Studied lakes as 'complete ecosystems' that facilitate studying them as an ecological unit, one of the first to study food webs
1890
Clinton Hart Merriam Lifezones between climate and vegetation, Influenced by van Humboldt and Forster
1899
Henry Chandler Cowles Succession in sand dunes in Indiana, emphasized interaction between plants and soils/geology, thought that systems were always moving towards equilibrium but never arrive there
1900s
1900
Hermann von Ihering Had theory for origin on South America to explain biodiversity, Historical reconstructions of the development and the spread of biotas should be based on zoogeography of ancient life forms
1912
Wegner Continental drift
1915
William Diller Matthew Reinforced centers of origin using fossils
1916
Frederic Clements Climax theory, thought of community as super-organism, published first American textbook in ecology
1917
Joseph Grinnell (1877-1939) Expert of North American birds, concept of niche was roughly synonymous to habitat. Included ideas of competitive exclusion. Published primarily descriptive works.
1920
Raymond Pearl Noted that human population change seemed to follow a regular S-shaped curve which he called the "logistic curve," following Pierre-Francois Verhulst, a Belgian mathematician. Also worked on predator-prey interactions.
1925
Vito Volterra (1860-1940) and Alfred James Lotka (1880-1949) whose work resulted in the Lotka-Volterra' equations, which is still used in models of predation.
1926
Henry Allen Gleason (1882-1975) Proposed individualistic concept of plant association, in contrast to Clements. Recognized differences in community composition between areas, but noted that there is rarely a clear distinction between them, and that these differences depend on the scale at which one looks. Current location of plants depends on two factors, the chance of dispersal to the region and fluctuations in the environment. August Thienemann" relationship between community and habitat in context of succession. Stressed that systems can be dynamic and still support stable community.
1927
Charles Elton Wrote book "Animal Ecology" and began to develop niche concept as an animal's place the food chain
1930
J.B.S Haldane, R.A. Fisher, and Sewall Wright introduced ecological genetics
1935
Sven Eckman Worldwide distribution of marine animals. Arthur Tansley coined term "ecosystem" as an improvement over "quasi-organism" Georgii F. Gause (1910-1986) Published "Struggle for Existance" introduced mathematics into study of predator/prey dynamics. Alexander John Nicholson (1895-1965) Australian entomoligist worked with Victor Albert Baily added intraspecific competition into the Lotka-Volterra models.
1942
Raymond Lindemann (1915-1942) Physiological and community ecology, the "trophic dynamic aspect" of ecology. Studied links between short-term processes with long-term trends. Integrated biotic and abiotic aspects of ecosystems.
1943
Evgenii Vladimirovitch Wulff, Botanical biogeography, Looked for major plant centers
1945
Patrick H. Leslie developed method of analyzing populations using matrix algebra
1954
H.G. Andrewartha and L.C. Birch studied density dependence of population regulation
1957
G. Evelyn Hutchinson n-dimensional nitch concept
