Jan-Hendrik Becking

Jan-Hendrik Becking (born June 9, 1924 in Blora , Java , Indonesia ; † January 16, 2009 in Wageningen , Netherlands ) was a Dutch biologist , microbiologist , plant physiologist and ornithologist .

Jan-Hendrik Becking in Wageningen, 1974

Life

Jan-Hendrik Becking was born as the second son of the forest inspector ( "Inspecteur" , later "Hoofdinspecteur, Hoofd van den Dienst van het Boschwezen in Nederlandsch-Indië" ) Johannes Hendrikus Becking . He spent most of the time up to the age of 21 on Java, in what was then the colony of the Dutch East Indies; he also experienced the war and the Japanese occupation there. Mediated through contacts from his father, he met well-known zoologists and ornithologists such as Hans Kooiman (1905–1989) and Max Bartels junior early on . (1902–1943) together. Max Bartels often took Jan-Hendrik and his older brother Rudy (Rudolf Willem) with him on expeditions to remote natural areas on Java. In the Zoological Museum Buitenzorg (Bogor) he learned animal taxidermy from PF Franck, was allowed to collect for the museum and also built up his own collection. A very important place of study for him was Java's largest and best-documented ornithological collection at the time, the private collection of the Bartels family in Ciparay (W-Java), where Jan-Hendrik was already 17 years old when he was responsible for tasks (such as measuring and cataloging parts of the Collection).

After the Second World War Becking studied biology at the University of Leiden and received his doctorate in 1956 with the dissertation "On the mechanism of ammonium ion uptake by maize roots" . In the same year he married Katharina Priska Charlotte, Countess von Wallwitz (1926–2005), who also offered him important professional support and made possible a life almost exclusively devoted to research (children: Albert Jan * 1957, Priska Elisabeth (Priska) * 1960, Katharina Sophia (Katja) * 1964). A position at the TU Delft , under his very revered mentor Albert Jan Kluyver (1888–1956), did not come about due to the sudden death of Kluyver. Becking decided on the Institute for Microbiology of the " Landbouwhogeschool Wageningen " (1956–1966) and then worked at Euratom-ITAL (near Wageningen), a research institute subordinated to the Ministry of Agriculture and Euratom (1966–1989). As a specialist in the field of natural nitrogen fixation, he gained a high international reputation; several of his publications appeared in "Nature". In 1965 he was honored for his work by the Institut Pasteur (Paris), with the Médaille Pasteur (Symposium "Microbiologie du sol", 1965).

From 1971 Becking traveled regularly to Java, researching natural nitrogen fixation in rice fields (microorganisms in the host plant Azolla), but also took up ornithology again. According to the possibilities available to him in Wageningen, he dealt with the microstructure of eggshells, applied electrophoresis to egg albumins of "difficult" species and was able to solve taxonomic questions in a new way with the help of such methods. By analyzing sonograms of bird calls, he succeeded in confirming some findings in yet another way (Ibis 117, 1975; JBNHS 78, 1981). He dealt in detail with various Asian cukucks, with the swallow Collocalia Gigas (Ibis 113, 1971) and the scops owl Otus Angelinae (BBOC 114, 1994), which nest under waterfalls . For Campbell's "A dictionary of Birds" (1985) he made several contributions; together with Claus König and Friedhelm Weick he wrote a standard work on owls: Owls. A Guide to the Owls of the World (1999, 2nd Ed. 2009). A checklist of the birds of Java remained unfinished, but is to be completed and published by the ornithologist Bas van Balen.

Becking also repeatedly dealt with the history of nature research in the Dutch East Indies / Indonesia. He wrote a biography of Henri Jacob Victor Sody (1892–1959), a pioneer in the field of zoology and ornithology whom he had known well, and collected material on a number of other naturalists, e.g. Some had perished in the war or their works and collections had been scattered by the circumstances. An important concern for him was the processing of the Bartels collection, founded by Max Eduard Gottlieb Bartels (1871–1936), which largely survived the war and was housed in the Natural History Museum in Leiden . It contains many extremely rare species; however, the associated, in principle very detailed and informative records are partially missing. Parts of the collection have also been removed or alienated. Becking brought back what was scattered about the collection and the Bartels family; the records and the correspondence between the father MEG Bartels and his sons Max, Ernst and Hans, as well as with Otto Finsch (Leiden), Erwin Stresemann (Berlin) and a number of other scientists, form an extensive corpus, a key to solving at least some more open ones Questions about this collection, which is so eminently important for ornithology in Java (Becking, BBOC 129, 2009). The planned monograph on the history of the Bartels Collection no longer came about. The material for this as well as most of the rest of the Becking archive is today (2011) in the Zoological Museum Amsterdam. Becking's scientific collections are kept to a lesser extent in the Bogor and Leiden museums, and most of them also in Amsterdam. As part of a reorganization of the Dutch natural history collections, all material is to be brought together in Leiden (Museum Naturalis).

Publications

Microbiology / plant physiology

• Kluyver, AJ / JH Becking: Some observations on the nitrogen fixing bacteria of the genus Beijerinckia Derx. Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae A II, 60, 1955, 367-380.
• On the mechanism of ammonium ion uptake by maize roots. Acta Botanica Neerlandica 5, 1956, 1-79.
• Nitrogen-fixing bacteria of the genus Beijerinckia in South African soils. Plant and Soil 11, 1959, 193-206.
• Studies on nitrogen-fixing bacteria of the genus Beijerinckia. I: Geographical and ecological distribution in soils. Plant and Soil 14, 1961, 49-81.
• Studies on nitrogen-fixing bacteria of the genus Beijerinckia. II: Mineral nutrition and resistance to high levels of certain elements in relation to the intended type. Plant and Soil 14, 1961, 297-322.
• Molybdenum and symbiotic nitrogen fixation by alder (Alnus glutinosa Gaertn.), Nature 192, 1961, 1204-1205.
• A requirement of molybdenum for the symbiotic nitrogen fixation in alder (Alnus glutinosa Gaertn.), Plant and Soil 15, 1961, 217-228.
• Species differences in molybdenum and vanadium requirements and combined nitrogen utilization by Azotobacteriaceae. Plant and Soil 16, 1962, 171-201.
• Nitrate reductase in cell-free extracts of Azotobacter. Plant and Soil 16, 1962, 202-213.
• An aerobic heterotrophic Spirillum fixing atmospheric nitrogen. 8th International Congress for Microbiology, Montreal, Canada, 1962: Abstr. B14.5.
• Fixation of molecular nitrogen by an aerobic Vibrio or Spirillum. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Journal of Microbiology and Serology, 29, 1963, 326.
• Moore, AW and JH Becking: Nitrogen fixation by Bacillus strains isolated from Nigerian Soils. Nature 198, 1963, 915-916.
• Becking, JH, WE De Boer and AL Houwink: Electron microscopy of the endophyte of Alnus glutinosa. Antonie van Leeuwenhoek, Journal of Microbiology and Serology 30, 1964, 343-376.
• "In-vitro" cultivation of Alder root-nodule tissue containing the endophyte. Nature 207, 1965, 885-887.
• Nitrogen fixation and mycorrhiza in Podocarpus root nodules. Plant and Soil 23, 1965, 213-226.
• Interactions nutritionelles plantes-actinomycetes. Report General. Annales de l'Institut Pasteur 1966, Suppl III, 211-246.
• Mycorrhize de Podocarpus. Physiologie et morphologie. Annales de l'Institut Pasteur 1966, Suppl III, 295-302.
• The Alder (Alnus glutinosa) root-nodule syrnbiosis. 9th International Congress for Microbiology, Moscow, 1966, Section C2b (1967).
• Root-nodule rnycorrhiza of Podocarpus Mycorrhiza Research Working Group, Section 24, 14th IUFRO-Congress, Munich 4. – 9. Sept. 1967, 158-171.
• Stikstoffbinding. Natuur en Techniek, Natuurwetenschappelijk en Technisch Maandblad. Jaargang 2, Heerlen 1967, 1–11.
• Lopez, R. and JH Becking: Polysaccharide-production by Beijerinckia and Azotobacter. Microbiologia Espanola 21, 1968, 53-75.
• Nitrogen fixation by non-leguminous plants. Symposium "Nitrogen in Soil", Groningen, May 17-19, 1967, In: Stikstof, Dutch Nitrogen Fertilizer Review 12, 1968, 47-74.
• Plant-endophyte symbiosis in non-leguminous plants. 2nd Conference on Global Impacts of Applied Microbiology, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, November 5-11, 1967. Plant and Soil 32, 1970, 611-654.
• Frankiaceae fam. nov. (Actinomycetales) with one new combination and six new species of the genus Frankia Brunchorst 1886, 174. Journal of Syst. Bacteriology 20, 1970, 201-220.
• Biological nitrogen fixation and its economic significance. Panel: Recent developments in the use of 15 N in soil-plant studies, Sofia, Dec. 1969. In: Nitrogen-15 in soil-plant studies, Publ. International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna 1971, 189-222.
• The physiological significance of the leaf nodules of Psychotria. Proc. Technical Meetings of Biological Nitrogen Fixation of the Int. Biol. Program (Section PP-N). Prague and Wageningen, 1970. Plant and Soil, Special volume, 1971, p. 361-374.
• Symbioses: nitrogen binding. Progress in botany 34, Berlin 1972, 459-67.
• in: Bergeyls Manual of Determinative Bacter iology, 8th Edition, 1974: Keys of Families Azotobatceriaceae and Frankiaceae, pp 253, 256-261, 286, 288-289, 702-706, 871-872.
• Putative nitrogen fixation in other symbioses. In: The Biology of Nitrogen Fixation, ed. A. Quispel, North-Holland / Elsevier, Amsterdam 1974, 583-613.
• Nitrogen-fixing bacteria of the genus Beijerinckia. Soil Science 118, 1974, 196-212.
• Biological fixation of atmospheric nitrogen: Other systems. Global Impacts of Applied Microbiology, GIAM IV, Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 23-28, 1973. 421-460 (1974).
• Root nodules in non-legumes. In: The Development and Function of Roots I. Third Cabot Symposium, Harvard Univ., Mass., USA, April 8-12, 1974. Academic Press, 1975, 507-566.
• Nitrogen fixation in some natural ecosystems in Indonesia. In: Nitrogen Fixation and the Biosphere, International Synthesis Meeting, Intern. Biol. Program, Section PP-N, Edinburgh 1973. Cambridge Univ. Press, 1976, 539-550.
• Contribution of plant-algal associations. International Symposium of N2 fixation, June 3-7, 1974. Pullman, Washington, USA organized by the Charles F. Kettering Research Foundation, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 556-580 (1976).
• Actinomycete synbioses in non-legumes. International Symposium of N2 fixation, June 3-7, 1974. Pullman, Washington, USA organized by the Charles F. Kettering Research Foundation, Yellow Springs, Ohio, 581-591 (1976).
• Dinitrogen-fixing Associations in Higher Plants other than Legumes. In: A Treatise on Dinitrogen Fixation, Section III, Biology, Ch. 6, John Wiley & Sons 1977, 185-275.
• Endophyte and association establishes in non-leguminous nitrogen fixing plants, Proc. 2nd International Symposium on N2 fixation. Interdisciplinary Discussions, Salamanca, Spain, September 1976. In: Recent Developments in Nitrogen Fixation, Academic Press, 1977, 551-567.
• Beijerinckia in irrigated rice soils. Proc. International Symposium: Environmental Role of Nitrogen Fixing Blue-green Algae and Asymbiotic Bacteria, Uppsala, Sweden, September 1976. Ecol. Bull. Stockholm 26, 1978, 116-129.
• Ecology and physiological adaptations in some symbiotic bluegreen algae. Proc. International Symposium Environmental Role of Nitrogen-fixing Blue-green Algae and Asyrnbiotic Bacteria. Uppsala, Sweden, September 1976. Ecol. Bull. Stockholm 26, 1978, 282-293.
• Environmental requirements of Azolla for use in tropical rice production (Symposium September 18-21, 1978). In: Nitrogen and Rice, Publ. International Rice Research Institute, Los Banos, Laguna, Philippines 1979, 345–373.
• Root-nodule syrnbiosis between Rhizobiurn and Parasponia (ulmaceae). Plant and Soil. 51, 1979, 289-296.
• Nitrogen fixation by Rubus ellipticus JE Smith. Plant and Soil 53, 1979, 541-545.
• Becking, JH / Donze, M: Pigment distribution and nitrogen fixation in Anabaena azollae. Plant and Soil 61, 1981, 203-226.
• Nitrogen fixation in nodulated plants other than legumes. In: Advances in Agricultural Microbiology, Oxford & lBH Publ. Co., 1981.
• The Family Azotobacteriaceae. In: The Prokaryotes - a Handbook on Habitats, Isolation and Identification of Bacteria (Eds. MP Starr, H. Stolp, HG Trüper, A. Ballows, and HG Schlegel), Vol. 1, 1981, Chapter 66, 795-817.
• The genus Frankia. In: The Prokaryotes - a Handbook on Habitats, Isolation and Identification of Bacteria (Eds. MP Starr, H. Stolp, HG Trüper, A. Ballows, and HG Schlegel), Vol. 2, 1981, Chapter 152, 1991-2003.
• Bond, G. & Root nodules in the genus Colletia. New Phytologist 90, 1987, 57-65.
• Azospirillum lipoferum - A reappraisal. Azospirillum workshop. In: Azospirillum - Genetics, Physiology, Ecology (Ed. W. Klingmüller). Experientia Supplementum vol. 42, Basel 1982, 130-149.
• Nitrogen fixation in nodulated plants other than Legumes. In: Advances in Agricultural Microbiology (Ed. KS Subba Rao), Oxford & IBH Publ. Comp, New Delhi 1982, 89-110.
• N2-fixing tropical non-legumes. In: Microbiology of Tropical Soils and Plant Productivity (Eds.YR Dommergues, HG Diem), Martinus Nijhoff / Dr. W. Junk Publ. 1982, 109-146.
• The Parasponia parviflora - Rhizobium symbiosis. Host specificity, growth and nitrogen fixation under various conditions. Plant and Soil 75, 1983, 309-342.
• The Paraspornia parviflora - Rhizobium symbiosis. Isotopic nitrogen fixation, hydrogen evolution and nitrogen fixation efficiency, and oxygen relations. Plant and Soil 75, 1983, 343-360.
• Sexual reproduction of Azolla species. In: The role of isotopes in studies on nitrogen fixation and nitrogen cycling by blue-green algae and the Azolla-Anabaena azoilae association. Technical Document, International Atomic Energy Agency 1985, 53-61.
• Identification of the endophyte of Dryas and Rubus (Rosaceae). Plant and Soil 78, 1984, 105-128.
• Pleomorphism in Azospirillum. In: Azospirillum III: Genetics, Physiology, Ecology. Proceedings of the 3rd Bayreuth Azospirillum Workshop, Ed. W. Klingmüller. Springer, Berlin / Heidelberg 1985, 243-262.
• Endophyte transmission and activity in the Anabaena-Azolla association. Plant and Soil 100, 1987, 183-212.
• The structure and ultra-structure of the Anabaena-Azolla symbiosis. In: Past, present and future of electron microscopy in agricultural research. Ed. A. Boekestein. Service Landbouwkundig Onderzoek, Technical and Fysische Dienst voor de Landbouw. Wageningen 1991, 17-29.
• The Rhizobium symbiosis of the Non-legume Parasponia. In: Biological Nlitrogen Fixation. Eds. G. Stacey, RH Burris & HJ Evans, Chapman and Hall, New York / London 1992, 497-559.
• Chapter 110: The Genus Beijerinckia. In: The Prokaryotes: A Handbook on the Biology of Bacteria: Ecophysiology, Isolation, Identification, Applications. 2nd ed., 1992, Vol. III (Eds. A. Balows, HG Trüper, M. Dworkin, W. Harder, KH Schleifer ), 2254-2267.
• Chapter 135: The genus Derxia. In: The Prokaryotes: A Handbook on the Biology of Bacteria: Ecophysiology, Isolation, Identification, Applications. 2nd ed., 1992, Vol. III (Eds. A. Balows, HG Trüper, M. Dworkin, W. Harder, KH Schleifer), 2605 - 2611.
• Chapter 165: The Family Azotobacteraceae. In: The Prokaryotes: A Handbook on the Biology of Bacteria: Ecophysiology, Isolation, Identification, Applications. 2nd ed., 1992, Vol. IV (Eds. A. Balows, HG Trüper, M. Dworkin, W. Harder, KH Schleifer), 3144-3170.

Ornithology

• Breeding of CollocalIa gigas. The Ibis 113, 1971, p. 330-334.
• Ultra-structure of the avian eggshell. Proceedings of the 15th International Ornithologists' Congress, The Hague, 1970. EJ Brill, Leiden 1972, p. 544-545.
• The ultra-structure of the Avian eggshell. The Ibis 117, 1975, p. 143-151.
• New evidence of the specific affinity of Cuculus lepidus Müller. The Ibis 117, 1975, p. 275-284.
• with Wells, DR: VocalIzations and status of Little and Himalayan Cuckoos, Cuculus poliocephalus and Cuculus saturatus, In Southeast Asia. The Ibis 117, 1975, p. 366-371.
• Feeding range of Sula abbotti at the coast oif Java. The Ibis 118, 1976, p. 589-590.
• The Dove Prion Pachyptila desolata at the coast of Java (Notes on Sea-Birds 55), Ardea 64, 1976, p. 85-87.
• Electron micrograph of a pore in an eggshell. In: Rahn, H., Ar, A. & Paganelli, CV: How Bird Eggs Breathe. Scientific American 240 (2), 1979, p. 46-55.
• Notes on the breeding of Indian Cuckoos. Journal of the Bombay Nat. Hist. Soc. 78, 1981, p. 201-231.
• in: A Dictionary of Birds, eds. B. Campbell & E. Lack 1985 (670 pp.): Brood-Parasitism (Becking, JH & DW Snow): p. 67-70; Edible Nests: p. 172-173; Ultrarastructure of Eggshells: p. 177-178; Swiftlet: p. 574-575.
• The taxonomic status of the Madagascar Cuckoo Cuculus (poliocephalus) rochii and its occurrence On the African mainland, including southern Africa. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 108 (4), 1988, p. 195-206.
• On the biology and voice of the Javan Scops Owl Otus angelinae. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 144 (4), 1994, p. 211-224.
• with König, C., Weick, F .: Owls. A Guide to the Owls of the World. Pica Press, Sussex, UK, 1999 (462 pp.)
• with König, C., Weick, F .: Owls of the World. Christopher Helm / A & C Black, 2009 (528 pp.)
• Notes on Waterfall Swift Hydrochous gigas: I. Occurrence and nesting. Becking, JH: Notes on Waterfall Swift Hydrochous gigas: II. Nestling plumage and phylogenetic relationships. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 126, 2006, p. 117-126.
• The Bartels and other egg collections from the island of Java, Indonesia, with corrections to earlier publications of A. Hoogerwerf. Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club 129 (1), 2009, p. 18-48.

History

• Henri Jacob Victor Sody (1892-1959). His Life and Work. A Biographical and Bibliographical Study. EJ Brill, Leiden, 1989 (272 pp.)
• Een begenadigd leermeester. Hommage aan de natuuronderzoeker en mens Prof. Dr. Leendert van der Pijl. In: Moesson, vol. 34, no. 20, 1990, p. 20-24
• In Memoriam: JG Kooiman (1905-1989), in: Limosa 65 (1992) 4, p. 176-177.
• A better present for Indonesië (Zoological Museum Bogor). NRC Handelsblad: Wetenschap en Onderwijs, July 20, 1995.
• In Memory of Hans Bartels (1906-1997), In: Ardea 89 (2), 2001, p. 420-425.

literature

• Voous, Karel H .: Becking, Jan Hendrik. In: Voous, Karel H .: In de ban van vogels. Geschiedenis van de beoefening van de ornithologie in Nederland in de twintigste eeuw . Tevens Ornithological Biographical Woordenboek. Utrecht 1995, pp. 134-135.
• Brouwer, Joost: Jan-Hendrik Becking 1924-2009. In: Bulletin of the British Ornithologists, Club 129 (1), 2009, p. 3.
• Rozendaal, Frank G .: De Bijdragen van MEG Bartels en zijn Zoons ... tot de Kennis van de Avifauna van de Indian Archipelago. Doctoraalscriptie Biohistorie, RU Utrecht, April 1981.