Biographical Memoirs Volume 59 (1990) / Chapter Skim
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Robert H. Whittaker
Robert H. Whittaker
Pages 424-445
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measurement of species diversity, niche theory, and the systematics of kingdoms of organisms. In several influential monographs he detailect the vegetational patterns of various montane regions of the United States, and cluring the last six years of his lifeextencled his research to Mediterranean- and arid-climate regions of the United States, Israel, Australia, and South Africa.
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Vestal, whom Whittaker called his "second adviser.'' SCIENTIFIC WORK The Continuum of Plant Species Distribution Whittaker was particularly taken by classroom lectures in which Vestal questioned rigid Clementsian notions of plant association and discussed Gleason's opposing idea of individ
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Whittaker's doctoral dissertation (194S,1) examined patterns of plant species change along an attitudinal gradient in the Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee.
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Returning to the original focus of his dissertation work, Whittaker completed a manuscript on foliage insects in the Great Smokies, building on his vegetation analysis there. At the same time he conducted a uniquely thorough study of copepod communities of small ponds in the Columbia basin.
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He used a volumetric measurement based on growth rings and succeedecI, through laborious calculations, in obtaining productivity estimates for the major plant communities in the mountain range. His efforts provided a basis for the subsequent development of the dimension analysis methodology still wiclely in use.
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Herbert Bormann on the biomass, productivity, and nutrient content of the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest in New Hampshire. These subsequently led to two major monographs about this northern hardwood forest ecosystem (1970,1; 1974,31.
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In association with Hugh Gauch, Jr., and others he also explored techniques for ordinating species data techniques that helped computerize earlier gradient analyses he had developed along with I
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Demonstrating the continuity of species' response to environmental gradients, he challenged the classificatory approach to vegetation structure. Though Whittaker credited Ramensky, Gleason, Curtis, and McIntosh with much, it was his own theory, method, and empirical evidence that solidified gradient analysis into a scientifically accepted approach.
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In 1975 Robert Whittaker supplied the National Academy with an autobiographical note, which remains on file with the Archives of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
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1952 A study of summer foliage insect communities in the Great Smoky Mountains.
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E Egler, A Cartographic Guide to Selected Regional Vegetation Literature Where Plant Communities Have Been Described (1959~.
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Ecology, 44:425. Net production of heath bards and forest heaths in the Great Smoky Mountains.
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Primary production and the cation budget of the Brookhaven forest. In: Symposium on Primary Productivity and Mineral Cycling in Natural Ecosystems, ed.
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Effects of chronic gamma irradiation on plant communities.
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Measurement of net primary production of forests. In: Productivity of Forest Ecosystems (French summary)
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Evaluation of ordination techniques. In: Handbook of Vegetation Science, V
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Ordination of vegetation samples by Gaussian species distributions. Ecology, 55: 1382-90.
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Vegetatio, 33:7998. Animal effects on plant species diversity.
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Measurements and relationships of plant species diversity in Mediterranean shrublands and woodlands. In: Ecological Diversity in Theory and Practice, eds.
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The Hubbard Brook ecosystem study: Forest nutrient cycling and element behavior. Ecology, 60:203-20.
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