Robert H. MacArthur

Robert H. MacArthur ( Robert Helmer MacArthur ; born April 7, 1930 in Toronto , † November 1, 1972 ) was an American ecologist who has made significant contributions in the areas of community ecology , population ecology and theoretical biology . As a student of George Evelyn Hutchinson , he played an important role in developing theories of ecological niches . Together with Edward O. Wilson , he wrote The Theory of Island Biogeography (see Inselbiogeographie ), a work that had a significant influence on the field of biogeography , advanced the ecology of communities and ultimately led to the development of modern landscape ecology . The emphasis on statistical tests as a method within his work contributed to the development of ecology from a primarily ideographic to a nomothetic science, which gave important impulses to the development of theoretical ecology . In 1962 MacArthur was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , in 1969 to the National Academy of Sciences .

Publications

with Edward O. Wilson : An equilibrium theory of insular zoogeography. In: evolution. 17, 1963, pp. 373-387
with Joseph H. Connell: The Biology of Populations. Wiley, 1966
- Populations Biology. BLV-Verlagsgesellschaft, Munich / Basel / Vienna 1970, ISBN 3-405-10883-7
with Edward O. Wilson: The Theory of Island Biogeography. Princeton University Press, 1967
- Biogeography of the islands. Goldmann, Munich 1971, ISBN 3-442-55014-9
Geographical Ecology. Harper and Row, 1972

Stephen D. Fretwell: The Impact of Robert MacArthur on Ecology. In: Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics. 6, 1975, pp. 1-13
Edward O. Wilson & G. Evelyn Hutchinson : Robert Helmer MacArthur . In: National Academy of Sciences (Ed.): Biographical Memoirs. Volume 58. National Academies Press, 1989, ISBN 030903938X , pp. 318–327 ( PDF; 434 kB )
ER Pianka & HS Horn: Ecology's Legacy from Robert MacArthur. In: K. Cuddington & B. Biesner (Eds.): Ecological Paradigms Lost: Routes of Theory Change. Elsevier Academic Press, 2005, pp. 213-232
Ralf Klinger: The important biologists. In: Marix knowledge. Marixverlag, Wiesbaden 2008, ISBN 978-3-8653-9933-5 , p. 173 f.

Robert H. MacArthur , website of the Eric Pianka laboratory at the University of Texas at Austin

personal data
SURNAME	MacArthur, Robert H.
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	MacArthur, Robert Helmer (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American ecologist
DATE OF BIRTH	April 7, 1930
PLACE OF BIRTH	Toronto
DATE OF DEATH	November 1, 1972