Robert Treat Paine (Zoologist)

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Robert Treat Paine III (born April 13, 1933 in Cambridge , Massachusetts , United States - † June 13, 2016 ), called Bob Paine , was an American ecologist and professor of zoology in the Department of Biology at the University of Washington . In 1969 he introduced the concept of key species one ( "keystone species") into the ecology.

Life

Robert Paine's mother worked as a photographer and writer, his father as an art historian. He grew up in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Harvard University in 1954 . After his military service, he continued his studies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor and initially planned to work in the field of paleontology . However, after listening to lectures by the ecologist Frederick Edward Smith , his interest in the field developed; 1961 received his doctorate with a study on the population dynamics of the brachiopod Glottidia pyramidata , a so-called living fossil .

After a brief postdoctoral stay at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla , California , Paines went to the Department of Zoology at the University of Washington. There he began a series of experiments with starfish , the results of which were published for the first time in 1966 and which are now considered a classic project of experimental marine ecology: Paines first removed all starfish of the species Pisaster ochraceus from a section off the coast off Neah Bay , Washington , and then observed the consequences of the removal of these predators for other species in this ecosystem. In fact, the composition of the species changed, as the individuals of the species that had previously served the predator as prey were now able to reproduce more intensely, came into greater competition with one another and this had considerable effects on biodiversity . In a publication published in 1969, he then generalized these observations to the concept of key species .

1971 Robert Paine was appointed professor at the University of Washington; he remained connected to this university until his death.

Honors

Fonts (selection)

literature

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Prof. Emeritus Bob Paine (1933–2016). Obituary to: biology.washington.edu from June 15, 2016
  2. ^ RT Paine: A Note on Trophic Complexity and Community Stability. In: The American Naturalist. Volume 103, No. 929, 1969, pp. 91-93, doi: 10.1086 / 282586 .
  3. ↑ Sean B. Carroll: The Ecologist Who Threw Starfish. On: nautil.us of March 10, 2016
  4. ^ Robert T. Paine: The Life History and Population Dynamics of Glottidia pyramidata (Brachiopoda). University of Michigan, PhD thesis, Ann Arbor 1961
  5. ^ RB Root: Robert T. Paine, President, 1979-1980. In: Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America. Volume 60, No. 3, 1979, pp. 156–157, full text (PDF)
  6. ↑ Jane Lubchenco in Nature, July 21, 2016
  7. ^ Honorary Lifetime Membership Award: Robert T. Paine. In: The American Naturalist. Volume 174, No. 3, 2009, p. Iii, doi: 10.1086 / 605920
  8. ↑ Review of Humans as a Hyperkeystone Species . On: theatlantic.com from June 21, 2016
personal data
SURNAME Paine, Robert Treat
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Paine III, Robert Treat (full name); Paine, Bob
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American ecologist and marine biologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 13, 1933
PLACE OF BIRTH Cambridge , Massachusetts , United States
DATE OF DEATH June 13, 2016