Frederick Herbert Bormann

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Frederick Herbert Bormann (born March 24, 1922 in New York City , † June 7, 2012 in North Branford , Connecticut ; also known as Herb Bormann and as an author mostly as F. Herbert Bormann ) was an American ecologist and professor of forest ecology at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. He was one of the initiators of research in the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest and, together with Gene Likens , is considered to be the 'discoverer' of the connection between acid rain and forest dieback .

Life

Herb Bormann grew up in Westwood, New Jersey . His father, Carl Bernhardt Bormann, was a waiter and came from Germany, his mother, Gertrude Anna Andle, came from Austria-Hungary . After studying a semester at the University of Idaho , he volunteered in the United States Navy in 1941 - after the attack on Pearl Harbor . In the rank of petty officer (NCO) he worked a. a. as a welder on submarines in Hawaii and completed an officer course at Princeton University by 1947 . He then studied agricultural science at Rutgers University in New Brunswick ( New Jersey ), where he received his bachelor's degree in 1948 . In 1950 he later passed the final exams for the master's and doctoral degrees ( Ph.D. ) at Duke University in Durham ( North Carolina ) in the field of plant ecology. In the following years he taught as a professor of botany at Dartmouth College in Hanover ( New Hampshire ). In 1966, Bormann was appointed to a professorship in forest ecology at Yale University. In 1969, he was awarded the chair of Oastler Professor of Biology at Yale University , which he held until his retirement in 1992.

Herb Bormann died of pneumonia. He left behind his wife, Christine Williamson Bormann, and four children.

Research topics

At Dartmouth College, Herb Bormann et al. a. Experiments with the root system of the Weymouth pine ( Pinus strobus ), a tree species in which the roots and through them the water absorption of the individual trees are connected to one another. As a student at Duke University at the Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory, he was temporarily occupied with questions about the water catchment area of ​​plants, so he soon added hydrological questions to his field experiments and, in the early 1960s, ensured that the interaction of precipitation , seepage and runoff with the Water supply and the feeding of trees have since been among the research topics of the newly established Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in 1955 . The team of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study , which was funded from 1963 onwards, included aquatic ecologist Gene Likens , geologist Noye M. Johnson and Robert S. Pierce of the United States Department of Agriculture's Forest Service (USDA).

In 1971, Bormann's team proved for the first time with certainty extremely high acid values ​​in Rain and Schnell as well as high sulfur values ​​in the soil of their study area, which resulted in further samples being taken in the north-east of the USA and ultimately in 1974 to a study published in the journal Science on the now unequivocally proven connection led by acid rain and forest dieback . A biographical note from the National Academy of Sciences states: “He meticulously documented the effects of increasing acidity in the ecosystem, and observed a decrease in forest growth and death of aquatic organisms. Through further studies, he was able to link the growing acidity directly to widespread air pollution. ”In 1990, the findings of Bormann's team were part of the scientific basis for the revised US Clean Air Act .

Outside the scientific community, Bormann became known in the USA as a critic of monotonous lawns and his advocacy of the species-rich meadows that he called Freedom Lawn .

Honors

Fonts (selection)

  • F. Herbert Bormann and Ben F. Graham Jr .: The Occurrence of Natural Root Grafting in Eastern White Pine, Pinus Strobus L., and Its Ecological Implications. In: Ecology. Volume 40, No. 4, 1959, pp. 677-691, doi: 10.2307 / 1929820 .
  • F. Herbert Bormann: The Structure, Function, and Ecological Significance of Root Grafts in Pinus strobus L. In: Ecological Monographs. Volume 36, No. 1, 1966, pp. 1-26, doi: 10.2307 / 1948486 .
  • F. Herbert Bormann and Gene Likens : Nutrient Cycling. In: Science . Volume 155, No. 3761, 1967, pp. 424-429, doi: 10.1126 / science.155.3761.424 .
  • Gene Likens, F. Herbert Bormann, Noye M. Johnson, and Robert S. Pierce: The Calcium, Magnesium, Potassium, and Sodium Budgets for a Small Forested Ecosystem. In: Ecology. Volume 48, No. 5, 1967, pp. 772-785, doi: 10.2307 / 1933735 .
  • Gene E. Likens, F. Herbert Bormann, and Noye M. Johnson: Nitrification: Importance to Nutrient Losses from a Cutover Forested Ecosystem. In: Science. Volume 163, No. 3872, 1969, pp. 1205-1206, doi: 10.1126 / science.163.3872.1205 .
  • Gene E. Likens, F. Herbert Bormann, and Noye M. Johnson: Acid Rain. Volume 14, No. 2, 1972, pp. 33-40, doi: 10.1080 / 00139157.1972.9933001 .
  • Gene Likens and F. Herbert Bormann: Acid Rain: A Serious Regional Environmental Problem. In: Science. Volume 184, No. 4142, 1974, pp. 1176-1179, doi: 10.1126 / science.184.4142.1176
  • F. Herbert Bormann: Air Pollution and Forests: An Ecosystem Perspective. In: BioScience. Volume 35, No. 7, 1985, pp. 434-441, doi: 10.2307 / 1310024 .
  • F. Herbert Bormann and Stephen R. Kellert (Eds.): Ecology, Economics, Ethics: The Broken Circle. Yale University Press, New Haven 1991, ISBN 0-300-04976-5 .
  • F. Herbert Bormann and Gene Likens: Pattern and Process in a Forested Ecosystem. Disturbance, Development and the Steady State Based on the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study. Springer-Verlag, New York 1994, ISBN 978-0-387-94344-2 .
  • F. Herbert Bormann et al .: Redesigning the American Lawn: A Search for Environmental Harmony. Yale University Press, New Haven, 2nd Edition 2001, ISBN 978-0-300-08694-2 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Gene E. Likens and F. Herbert Bormann: Acid Rain: A Serious Regional Environmental Problem. In: Science . Volume 184, No. 4142, 1974, pp. 1176-1179, doi: 10.1126 / science.184.4142.1176 .
  2. ↑ a b c d Gene E. Likens and Lars O. Heidin: Biographical Memoir. On the server of the National Academy of Sciences , last viewed on July 27, 2020.
  3. ^ F. Herbert Bormann Dies at 90; Helped Discover Acid Rain Threat. ( Memento of March 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Originally published in the New York Times on June 14, 2012.
  4. ^ A b c Member Directory: Frederick H. Bormann, Yale University. Entry on the server of the National Academy of Sciences , last viewed on July 27, 2020.
  5. ↑ a b Herbert Bormann. Obituary on telegraph.co.uk dated September 4, 2012.
  6. ↑ Freedom Lawn. At: mcgillcompost.com , last accessed on July 27, 2020.
personal data
SURNAME Bormann, Frederick Herbert
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Bormann, F. Herbert; Bormann, Herb
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American forest ecologist
DATE OF BIRTH March 24, 1922
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City , United States
DATE OF DEATH June 7, 2012
Place of death North Branford , Connecticut , United States