Robert Helmer MacArthur (April 7, 1930 – November 1, 1972) was a

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

-born American

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 ...

who made a major impact on many areas of

community A community is a social unit (a group of living things) with commonality such as place, norms, religion, values, customs, or identity. Communities may share a sense of place situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, t ...

and

population ecology Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment, such as birth and death rates, and by immigration and emigration. The discipline is import ...

Early life and education

MacArthur was born in Toronto, Ontario, to John Wood MacArthur and Olive Turner in 1930. He later moved to Marlboro, Vermont, as his father moved from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Marlboro College Marlboro College was a private college in Marlboro, Vermont. Founded in 1946, it remained intentionally small, operating as a self-governing community with students following self-designed degree plans culminating in a thesis. In 1998 the coll ...

. MacArthur received his Bachelor's degree in mathematics from Marlboro College, followed by a Master's degree in mathematics from

Brown University Brown University is a private research university in Providence, Rhode Island. Brown is the seventh-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, founded in 1764 as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providenc ...

in 1953. A student of G. Evelyn Hutchinson, MacArthur earned his Ph.D. from

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 ...

in 1957; his thesis was on the division of

ecological niche In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for ...

s among five warbler species in the conifer forests of Maine and Vermont. From 1957 to 1958, MacArthur worked as a

postdoc 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 ...

with

David Lack David Lambert Lack FRS (16 July 1910 – 12 March 1973) was a British evolutionary biologist who made contributions to ornithology, ecology, and ethology. His 1947 book, ''Darwin's Finches'', on the finches of the Galapagos Islands was a landm ...

Career

MacArthur was a professor at the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a Private university, private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest- ...

, 1958–65, and professor of biology at

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, 1965-72. He played an important role in the development of

niche partitioning In ecology, niche differentiation (also known as niche segregation, niche separation and niche partitioning) refers to the process by which competing species use the environment differently in a way that helps them to coexist. The competitive exclu ...

, and with E.O. Wilson he co-authored ''

The Theory of Island Biogeography ''The Theory of Island Biogeography'' is a 1967 book by the ecologist Robert MacArthur and the biologist Edward O. Wilson. It is widely regarded as a seminal piece in island biogeography and ecology. The Princeton University Press reprinted the ...

'' (1967), a work which changed the field of

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

, drove

community ecology In ecology, a community is a group or association of populations of two or more different species occupying the same geographical area at the same time, also known as a biocoenosis, biotic community, biological community, ecological community, ...

and led to the development of modern

landscape ecology Landscape ecology is the science of studying and improving relationships between ecological processes in the environment and particular ecosystems. This is done within a variety of landscape scales, development spatial patterns, and organizatio ...

. His emphasis on

hypothesis testing A statistical hypothesis test is a method of statistical inference used to decide whether the data at hand sufficiently support a particular hypothesis. Hypothesis testing allows us to make probabilistic statements about population parameters. ...

helped change ecology from a primarily descriptive field into an experimental field, and drove the development of

theoretical ecology Theoretical ecology is the scientific discipline devoted to the study of ecological systems using theoretical methods such as simple conceptual models, mathematical models, computational simulations, and advanced data analysis. Effective models im ...

. At Princeton, MacArthur served as the general editor of the series Monographs in Population Biology, and helped to found the journal ''

Theoretical Population Biology ''Theoretical Population Biology'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on theoretical aspects population biology in its widest sense, including mathematical modelling of populations, ecology, evolution, genetics, demograph ...

''. He also wrote ''Geographical Ecology: Patterns in the Distribution of Species'' (1972). He was elected to the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nat ...

in 1969. Robert MacArthur died of

renal cancer Kidney cancer, also known as renal cancer, is a group of cancers that starts in the kidney. Symptoms may include blood in the urine, lump in the abdomen, or back pain. Fever, weight loss, and tiredness may also occur. Complications can include spr ...

in 1972.

References

* Fretwell, Stephen D. (1975). The Impact of Robert MacArthur on Ecology. ''Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics'' 6, 1-13 * Pianka, E.R. and Horn, H.S. (2005). Ecology's Legacy from Robert MacArthur. Chapter 11 (pp. 213–232) in K. Cuddington and B. Biesner, eds. "Ecological Paradigms Lost: Routes of Theory Change." Elsevier Academic Press.

External links

Bibliography of Robert H. MacArthurNational Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoir
{{DEFAULTSORT:Macarthur, Robert 1930 births 1972 deaths American ecologists Brown University alumni Marlboro College alumni Mathematical ecologists Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences People from Toronto Princeton University faculty University of Pennsylvania faculty Yale University alumni

Early life and education

Career

See also

References

External links