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Robert Harding Whittaker (1920–1980) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 vegetation
Vegetation

refers to the flora system of a specific region....
 ecologist, active in the 1950s to the 1970s.

Born in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas

Wichita , is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas. The 2006 estimated population of 361,420 makes it the 51st largest city in the U.S....
, he obtained a B.A. at Washburn Municipal College (now Washburn University
Washburn University

Washburn University is a co-educational, public, institution of higher learning located in Topeka, Kansas, Kansas USA. The university offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business....
) in Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas

Topeka is the Capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat and most populous city of Shawnee County, Kansas. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States United States....
, and, following military service
Military service

Military service in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other military organization, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft ....
, his Ph.D.
Ph.D.

Ph.D. or PHD may stand for:* Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group* Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip...
 at the University of Illinois.

He held teaching and research positions at Washington State College in Hanford, Washington, the Hanford National Laboratories (where he pioneered use of radioactive tracer
Radioactive tracer

A radioactive tracer, also called a radioactive label, is a substance containing a radioisotope. Tracers can be used to measure the speed of chemical processes and to track the movement of a substance through a natural system such as a cell or a tissue....
s in ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
 studies), Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New York ....
, University of California-Irvine, and, finally Cornell University
Cornell University

Cornell University located in Ithaca, New York, USA, is a private university with four Statutory college. Its two medical campuses are in New York City and Education City, Qatar....
.

Extremely productive, Whittaker was a leading proponent and developer of gradient analysis
Gradient analysis

Gradient analysis is an empirical analytical method used in plant community ecology to relate the abundances of various species in a plant community to various environmental gradients by Ordination or by Weighted mean....
 to address questions in plant community ecology
Community ecology

Community ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology which studies the distribution, abundance, demography, and biological interactions between coexisting populations....
.






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Robert Harding Whittaker (1920–1980) was an American
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 vegetation
Vegetation

refers to the flora system of a specific region....
 ecologist, active in the 1950s to the 1970s.

Born in Wichita, Kansas
Wichita, Kansas

Wichita , is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Sedgwick County, Kansas. The 2006 estimated population of 361,420 makes it the 51st largest city in the U.S....
, he obtained a B.A. at Washburn Municipal College (now Washburn University
Washburn University

Washburn University is a co-educational, public, institution of higher learning located in Topeka, Kansas, Kansas USA. The university offers a number of undergraduate and graduate programs, as well as professional programs in law and business....
) in Topeka, Kansas
Topeka, Kansas

Topeka is the Capital city of the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat and most populous city of Shawnee County, Kansas. It is situated along the Kansas River in the central part of Shawnee County, located in northeast Kansas, in the Central United States United States....
, and, following military service
Military service

Military service in its simplest sense, is service by an individual or group in an army or other military organization, whether as a chosen job or as a result of an involuntary draft ....
, his Ph.D.
Ph.D.

Ph.D. or PHD may stand for:* Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group* Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip...
 at the University of Illinois.

He held teaching and research positions at Washington State College in Hanford, Washington, the Hanford National Laboratories (where he pioneered use of radioactive tracer
Radioactive tracer

A radioactive tracer, also called a radioactive label, is a substance containing a radioisotope. Tracers can be used to measure the speed of chemical processes and to track the movement of a substance through a natural system such as a cell or a tissue....
s in ecosystem
Ecosystem

An ecosystem is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals and micro-organisms in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical factors of the environment....
 studies), Brooklyn College
Brooklyn College

Brooklyn College is a senior college of the City University of New York, located in Brooklyn, New York.Established in 1930 by the New York City Board of Higher Education, the College had its beginnings as the Downtown Brooklyn branches of Hunter College and the City College of New York ....
, University of California-Irvine, and, finally Cornell University
Cornell University

Cornell University located in Ithaca, New York, USA, is a private university with four Statutory college. Its two medical campuses are in New York City and Education City, Qatar....
.

Extremely productive, Whittaker was a leading proponent and developer of gradient analysis
Gradient analysis

Gradient analysis is an empirical analytical method used in plant community ecology to relate the abundances of various species in a plant community to various environmental gradients by Ordination or by Weighted mean....
 to address questions in plant community ecology
Community ecology

Community ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology which studies the distribution, abundance, demography, and biological interactions between coexisting populations....
. He provided strong empirical evidence against some ideas of vegetation development advocated by Frederic Clements
Frederic Clements

Frederic Edward Clements was an United States plant ecologist and pioneer in the study of vegetation succession.Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he studied botany at the University of Nebraska, graduating in 1894 and obtaining a doctorate in 1898....
. Whittaker was most active in the areas of plant community
Community (ecology)

In ecology, a community is an assemblage of populations of different species, interacting with one another.The term is used in various ways with slight differences in meaning....
 analysis, succession
Ecological succession

Ecological succession, a fundamental concept in ecology, refers to more-or-less predictable and orderly changes in the composition or structure of an ecological Community ....
, and productivity.

He also first proposed the five-kingdom taxonomic classification
Taxonomy

Taxonomy is the practice and science of classification. The word comes from the Greek language ', taxis and ', nomos .Taxonomies, or taxonomic schemes, are composed of taxonomic units known as taxa , or kinds of things that are arranged frequently in a hierarchical structure....
 of the world's biota into the Animalia, Plantae, Fungi, Protista, and Monera
Monera

Monera are bacteria and other mostly tiny, single-celled organisms whose genetic material is loose in the cell. The genetic material of plants, animals, and other eukaryotes , on the other hand, is held in the cell's nucleus....
.

Whittaker was elected to the National Academy of Science in 1974, received the Ecological Society of America
Ecological Society of America

The Ecological Society of America is a learned society for ecologists located in the United States. It has over 10,000 members.The society was formed at a meeting at Columbus, Ohio Ohio, on December 28,1915 with the aims being to:...
's Eminent Ecologist Award
Eminent Ecologist Award

The Eminent Ecologist Award is prize awarded annually to a senior ecologist in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the science of ecology....
 in 1980, and was otherwise widely recognized and honored. He collaborated with many other ecologists, and was particularly active in cultivating international collaborations.

Ph.D. Students


Ecologists completing Ph.D.s under Whittaker include Walter Westman, Robert Peet (now at University of North Carolina
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public university research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, North Carolina, United States....
), Susan Bratton, Thomas Wentworth (now at North Carolina State University
North Carolina State University

North Carolina State University at Raleigh is a public university, coeducational, extensive research university located in Raleigh, North Carolina, United States....
), Owen Sholes, Mark Wilson (now at Oregon State University
Oregon State University

Oregon State University is a coeducational, public university research university located in Corvallis, Oregon, Oregon, United States. The university offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees and a multitude of research opportunities....
), Linda Olsvig Whittaker and Kerry Woods.

External links

  • List of works