2. The dawn of ecology

‘The dawn of ecology’ introduces the Greek writer Theophrastus and his discovery that plants flourish in places suited to their intrinsic attributes. The word ‘ecosystem’ was coined by 20th-century botanist Andrew Tansley, who argued that organisms and their environment should be considered together. Charles Elton created the ‘pyramid of numbers’, with producers at the bottom and primary consumers at the top. Georgy Gause discovered competition among species—if two organisms in competition for the same resource were put together, one would wipe the other out. Mathematical and scientific predictive models would become useful in unstable climate conditions, allowing specialists to identify potential tipping points.

Can We Predict Species Invasions?

Can we predict which species will become invasive if they are introduced? Asa Gray, the great 19th-century American botanist, contended that impacts of invasions cannot be predicted, and invasion biologists from Charles Elton onward have lamented how hard it is to foresee what a...

George Evelyn Hutchinson. 13 January 1903 — 17 May 1991

George Evelyn Hutchinson, born on 13 January 1903 in Cambridge, is considered by many to be the father of modern ecology because he infused the science with theory that was anchored in natural history. When called the father of ecology in 1973 on receiving the very first Tyler Prize, he instantly demurred, saying that credit should go to Darwin and Charles Elton, and further that what he was really proud of was the string of wonderfully bright students who had studied with him. Nonetheless in many senses and to a major extent Hutchinson can be credited with transforming natural history into a science. He spent most of his professional years at Yale and returned to England in 1991 for the last months of his life.