Raymond Laurel Lindeman (1915 – June 29, 1942) was an

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

whose graduate research is credited with being a seminal study in the field of

ecosystem ecology Ecosystem ecology is the integrated study of living ( biotic) and non-living (abiotic) components of ecosystems and their interactions within an ecosystem framework. This science examines how ecosystems work and relates this to their components ...

, specifically on the topic of

trophic dynamics A food web is the natural interconnection of food chains and a graphical representation of what-eats-what in an ecological community. Another name for food web is consumer-resource system. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one ...

Graduate research work

Lindeman completed his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * '' Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. al ...

at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public land-grant research university in the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. ...

with his thesis work being concerned with the history and ecological dynamics of Cedar Bog Lake, which is located in the

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve The Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve is an ecological research site located primarily in East Bethel, Minnesota in the counties of Anoka and Isanti on the northern edge of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Name Originally t ...

in central Minnesota. While a

postdoctoral researcher A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). The ultimate goal of a postdoctoral research position is to pu ...

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the w ...

with noted

limnologist Limnology ( ; from Greek λίμνη, ''limne'', "lake" and λόγος, ''logos'', "knowledge") is the study of inland aquatic ecosystems. The study of limnology includes aspects of the biological, chemical, physical, and geological characteris ...

G. Evelyn Hutchinson, Lindeman submitted a chapter of his thesis for publication. His manuscript was initially rejected as being too generalized but was published after Hutchinson and others were able to convince the editor of the paper's merits. The publication appeared in the journal ''

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overl ...

'' and establishes Ten percent law whereby only 10% of the energy consumed at one trophic level is transferred to higher trophic levels. Having suffered from chronic gastro-intestinal and liver inflammation, Lindeman died in 1942 at the age of 27, probably from hepatitis .

Legacy

An annual award in Lindeman's honor is given by the

Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography The Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO), formerly known as the Limnological Society of America and the American Society of Limnology and Oceanography, is a scientific society established in 1936 with the goal of advan ...

to the outstanding paper written that year by a young aquatic scientist. Lindeman is also honored today with a lecture series in his name in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior, University of Minnesota, as well as an informative plaque on the same University's

Wall of Discovery The Wall of Discovery is an environmental artwork that includes a 253-foot-long printed "blackboard" located in the center of thon the University of Minnesota campus. This installation was designed to celebrate the discoveries, inventions and creat ...

Publications

* Lindeman, RL (1939). Some affinities and varieties of the planktonic rotifer Brachnionus havanaensis Rouss. Transactions of the American Microscopical Society 58: 210–221. * Lindeman, RL (1941). "The developmental history of Cedar Creek Bog, Minnesota". American Midland Naturalist. 25 (1): 101–112. * Lindeman, RL (1941). "Seasonal food-cycle dynamics in a Senescent Lake". American Midland Naturalist. 26 (3): 636–673. * Lindeman, RL (1942). "Experimental simulation of winter anaerobiosis in a senescent lake". Ecology. 23 (1): 1–13. * Lindeman, RL (1942). "Seasonal distribution of midge larvae in a scenescent lake". American Midland Naturalist. 27 (2): 428–444. * Lindeman, RL (1942). "The trophic-dynamic aspect of ecology". Ecology. 23 (4): 399–418.

Biographies

*Reif, CB (1986). "Memories of Raymond Laurel Lindeman". ''Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America''. 67 (1): 20–25 *Sobczak, WV (2005). "Lindeman's trophic dynamic aspect of ecology: "Will you still need me when I'm 64?". ''Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin''. 14 (3): 53–57 *Sterner RW (2012) Raymond Laurel Lindeman and the Trophic Dynamic Viewpoint. ''Limnology and Oceanography Bulletin'' 21(2):38-51.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lindeman, Raymond American ecologists American limnologists University of Minnesota alumni 1915 births 1942 deaths People from Redwood Falls, Minnesota Deaths from hepatitis