Christian Theodor Vaupell (1821-1862) was a Danish botanist and forester

Forester

250px|thumb|right|Foresters of [[Southern University of Chile|UACh]] in the [[Valdivian forest]]s of San Pablo de Tregua, ChileA forester is a person who practices forestry, the science, art, and profession of managing forests. Foresters engage in a broad range of activities including timber...

. He was a student of Japetus Steenstrup

Japetus Steenstrup

Johannes Japetus Smith Steenstrup was a Danish zoologist, biologist, and professor.He was a professor of zoology at the University of Copenhagen...

 and a teacher of botany

Botany

Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

 at the University of Copenhagen

University of Copenhagen

The University of Copenhagen is the oldest and largest university and research institution in Denmark. Founded in 1479, it has more than 37,000 students, the majority of whom are female , and more than 7,000 employees. The university has several campuses located in and around Copenhagen, with the...

 to the young Eugen Warming.

Vaupell did macrofossil analysis of peat deposits and showed that in the Holocene

Holocene

The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...

 development of temperate

Temperate

In geography, temperate or tepid latitudes of the globe lie between the tropics and the polar circles. The changes in these regions between summer and winter are generally relatively moderate, rather than extreme hot or cold...

 forest communities in Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

, Betula was the chief early pioneer, followed by Pinus and Quercus and finally Fagus

Beech

Beech is a genus of ten species of deciduous trees in the family Fagaceae, native to temperate Europe, Asia and North America.-Habit:...

, which dominates today. These investigations pioneered the study of ecological succession

Ecological succession

Ecological succession, is the phenomenon or process by which a community progressively transforms itself until a stable community is formed. It is a fundamental concept in ecology, and refers to more or less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological community...

.

Selected works

Vaupell, C. (1851) De nordsjællandske Skovmoser. En botanisk-mikroskopisk Undersøgelse af de Plantedele, som danne Tørven og af de Levninger af Fortidens Skove, der ere bevarede i nogle nordsjællandske Skovmoser (Wooded Bogs in Northern Zealand - a botanical-microscopic investigation of the plant parts that make up the peat and of the remains of past forests that are preserved in some wooded bogs in northern Zealand).