John L. Harper

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
John L. Harper

John Lander Harper CBE FRS (born May 27, 1925 in Oxford ; † March 22, 2009 ) was a British biologist specializing in ecology and population botanical biology . Along with Colin R. Townsend and Michael Begon he wrote the well in German-speaking widespread textbook Essentials of Ecology (dt. Ecology ).

Life

Harper was born in Oxford in 1925 and attended the Lawrence Sheriff School in rugby . He received his first degree in botany in 1946 and his Masters in 1950 from Oxford University . He then worked at the Department of Agriculture at Oxford until 1959 and then put a sabbatical year on a Rockefeller Foundation scholarship at the University of California at Davis . In 1967 he became head of the Agricultural Botany at the University College of North Wales, Bangor . In 1984 Harper was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and in 1992 to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences .

research

Harper introduced the distinction between unitary and modular organisms in modern ecology . Unitary organisms characterize a largely fixed development and a defined final size. Examples are humans and other higher vertebrates, but also unicellular organisms. Organisms with a modular structure, on the other hand, have a module with a fixed basic plan. Branching creates many similar units, most of which are similar to the basic unit. These include higher plants, but also corals , bog animals and many mushrooms .

Works

German:

English:

  • with Michael Begon, Colin R. Townsend (2006): Ecology: from individuals to ecosystems. ISBN 1-4051-1117-8
  • with Michael Begon, Colin R. Townsend (2003): Essentials of Ecology. ISBN 1-4051-0328-0

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Wittig, Streit (2004): Ökologie, UTB Ulmer, p. 41 f.