Jean Pierre Vité

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Jean Pierre Vité , also Jean-Pierre Vité or Pierre Vité (born June 11, 1923 in Groß Jehser , Niederlausitz ; † July 5, 2016 there ) was a German forest scientist , zoologist and entomologist. The internationally renowned forest zoologist is best known for his contributions to deciphering the chemical structures of the pheromones in bark beetles . His research made a significant contribution to the development of attractant traps lured with synthetic pheromones for these insects, which are feared in forestry . Vité is one of the pioneers of biological pest control in the forest .

Life

Born in 1923 in Groß Jehser, a village in Lower Lusatia, Jean Pierre Vité studied forest sciences in Tharandt , Hamburg and at the forestry faculty of the Georg-August University in Göttingen in Hann. Münden . There he was in 1949 when Hermann August Eidmann (1897-1949) at the Institute of Forest Zoology with the dissertation research on the ecological significance of the Spiders for the cohabitation of the forest to Dr. forest. PhD . With this, Vité showed very early an interest in questions of ecology and environmental research , which in the post-war period had not yet reached general awareness. His first publication, which he published in 1949, was entitled The ecological structure of the forest . The two-volume textbook Die Holzzzerstörenden Inskten Mitteleuropas (1952/1953) emerged from his scientific occupation with various wood pests . In 1954 he completed his habilitation in Hann. Münden with the treatise The damage to the larch bladder foot (Taeniothrips laricivorus Krat.) And its dissemination for the subject "Forest Zoology".

Vité went to the USA in 1956 , where he headed the Forest Biology department at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research from 1957 to 1973 . On behalf of the institute, he set up forest research centers in California and Texas , of which he was also director. The institute also granted him the freedom and the means for his pioneering studies on host choice and the pheromone biology of bark beetles . He published his findings primarily in the series Contributions of the Boyce Thompson Institute . He has also taught as visiting professor at Oregon State University in Corvallis , the University of California at Berkeley and Texas A&M University .

In 1973 he followed Gustav Wellenstein's call to the chair of forest zoology at the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg , which he held until his retirement in 1990.

For his work on the use of behavior-controlling fragrances in forest protection , which has received worldwide attention , Vité has received several awards, including the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (1988). As early as 1969 it was the US state of Texas to its honorary citizen appointed.

At the end of his life Vité lived again in his hometown Groß Jehser, where he died on July 5, 2016.

Services

After completing his doctorate to Vité initially dealt with various forest insects, which in the postwar years in North Germany kalamitätsartige had occurred and partly inflicting great damage in the woods. Fritz Schwerdtfeger, for example, was also the so-called “bark beetle commissioner” in the Harz region . Vité, on the other hand, concentrated more on larch pests , especially the larch bladder base. To combat this, he developed the binding method with systemic insecticides , with which he became very well known at a young age.

In the USA, at the Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research, he initially researched the water supply system of conifers and dealt with the measurement of resin pressure as a criterion for the physiological condition and resistance of conifers .

Since the early 1960s, Jean Pierre Vité has been researching the communication system of the bark beetles - here, book printers - and their pheromones .

These investigations finally led him to the question of the host choice behavior of the bark beetle, which has determined his scientific work ever since. Since the early 1960s, Vité has devoted himself entirely to researching the communication system of the bark beetle and deciphering their chemical signals, the pheromones . His findings, which he gained in close cooperation with other experts, he put down in more than 100 specialist publications from the period after 1960 alone, which established his high scientific reputation worldwide.

The attractant traps for bark beetles go back to Jean Pierre Vité's long-term research.

In Freiburg from 1973 he continued researching the chemical structures of the beetle's own fragrances on European bark beetles. In fruitful teamwork with numerous scientific employees, he succeeded in developing attractant traps for bark beetles baited with synthetic pheromones and thus introducing a completely new technology in forestry . The well-known black beetle traps, which can often be seen in coniferous forests today, go back to Vité's many years of research. This made him one of the pioneers of biological pest control in the forest. Today, however, attractant traps are primarily used to observe and control bark beetle populations, as their effects are very limited in the event of mass reproduction.

Honors

Fonts (selection)

  • Studies on the ecological importance of spiders for the forest community . Dissertation, Göttingen and Hann. Münden 1949
  • The wood-destroying insects of Central Europe . 2 volumes, Göttingen 1952 and 1953
  • The damage to the base of the larch bladder (Taeniothrips laricivorus Krat.) And its distribution , series of publications by the Forest Faculty of the University of Göttingen (Volume 5), Frankfurt am Main 1953 (as a habilitation thesis 1954)

In addition, Jean Pierre Vité also worked on the monograph Die Fichte, designed and edited by Helmut Schmidt-Vogt . Volume 2, Part 2: Diseases - Damage - Spruce dieback (Hamburg 1989, ISBN 3-490-09516-2 ) with.

literature

  • Joachim Schönherr: Professor Vité 60 years . In: The forest and wood host . 38th volume, issue 11/1983, p. 284, ISSN  0015-7961
  • Joachim Schönherr: Prof. Dr. Vité for her 65th birthday . In: Allgemeine Forst Zeitschrift (AFZ) . 43rd year, issue 19/1988, p. 532, ISSN  0002-5860

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Robert I. Gara, Ronald F. Billings, William M. Ciesla, R. Scott Cameron: Dr. Jean Pierre (Peter) Vité (1923-2016) . In: American Entomologist . tape 62 , no. 4 , 2016, p. 256-258 , doi : 10.1093 / ae / tmw080 .
personal data
SURNAME Vité, Jean Pierre
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Vité, Jean-Pierre (full name); Vité, Pierre
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German forest scientist, zoologist and entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH June 11, 1923
PLACE OF BIRTH Groß Jehser , Niederlausitz
DATE OF DEATH 5th july 2016
Place of death Great Jehser