Evelyn Chrystalla "E. C." Pielou (February 20, 1924 – July 16, 2016) was a Canadian statistical

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

Biography

Pielou studied at the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a collegiate university, federal Public university, public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The ...

, where she obtained her bachelor's degree in botany in 1951 and her PhD in 1962. From 1963 to 1964, she worked as a researcher for the Canadian Department of Forestry, followed by the Canadian Department of Agriculture between 1964 and 1967. Later she was professor of

biology Biology is the scientific study of life and living organisms. It is a broad natural science that encompasses a wide range of fields and unifying principles that explain the structure, function, growth, History of life, origin, evolution, and ...

at Queen's University,

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

(1968–71) and at

Dalhousie University Dalhousie University (commonly known as Dal) is a large public research university in Nova Scotia, Canada, with three campuses in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Halifax, a fourth in Bible Hill, Nova Scotia, Bible Hill, and a second medical school campus ...

in Halifax,

Nova Scotia Nova Scotia is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, located on its east coast. It is one of the three Maritime Canada, Maritime provinces and Population of Canada by province and territory, most populous province in Atlan ...

(1974–81) and then Oil Sands Environmental Research Professor working out of the

University of Lethbridge The University of Lethbridge (also known as uLethbridge, uLeth, and U of L) is a public comprehensive and research university located in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada, with a second campus in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in the liberal arts traditio ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

(1981–86). Pielou was the second woman to win the

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. The prize is awarded by the Ecological Society of America. According to the statutes, the recipient ...

(1986) from the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

. She has contributed significantly to the development of mathematical ecology, the

mathematical modeling A mathematical model is an abstract and concrete, abstract description of a concrete system using mathematics, mathematical concepts and language of mathematics, language. The process of developing a mathematical model is termed ''mathematical m ...

of natural systems, and wrote six academic books on the subject. She lived in Comox, British Columbia, Canada, and wrote popular books on

natural history Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

until her death in July, 2016.

Contributions

Pielou's evenness

Pielou's evenness is an index that measures diversity along with species richness. While species richness is the number of different species in a given area, evenness is the count of individuals of each species in an area. A calculated value of Pielou's evenness ranges from 0 (no evenness) to 1 (complete evenness). When taken into account along with other indices such as Simpson's index or Shannon's index, a more thorough description of a community's structure can be interpreted.

Mathematical ecology

Pielou's approach added mathematical modelling to ecology. Quantifiable analyses could be done with theoretical ecology in areas like population and community ecology. Mathematics would provide insight into, for example, which factors are most significant to ecosystem stability and by how much compared to others. One of Pielou's papers mentioned the importance and uses of mathematical modelling in ecology as well as their limitations. Population dynamics was better explained as to why they behaved in the ways that they did through modelling. Predictions to an ecosystem's behaviour and its outcomes became more of an explanation as to why, rather than simply a forecast, through the use of such models. If a model was unrealistic, it did not mean that it was wrong. Mathematical modelling allowed the creation of new hypotheses looking into why the model did not match observations. An outcome was not always one or the other, as it might have been different due to unforeseen circumstances or conditions initially thought as unimportant. This allowed mathematical models in ecology to be used as a standard for comparisons with other systems. No two ecosystems are identical, and the significant differences between them could be more easily identified.

Selected works

Scholarly books

*Introduction to Mathematical Ecology (1969). Wiley-Interscience, New York. *Population and community ecology: principles and methods (1974). Gordon and Breach, New York. *Ecological diversity (1975). Wiley, New York. *Mathematical ecology (1977). Wiley, New York. *Biogeography (1979). Wiley, New York. *The interpretation of ecological data: a primer on classification and ordination (1984). Wiley, New York.

Popular books

After the Ice Age: The Return of Life to Glaciated North America
(1991). University of Chicago Press.
A Naturalist's Guide to the Arctic
(1994). University of Chicago Press. *Fresh Water (2000). University of Chicago Press. *The energy of nature (2001). University of Chicago Press. *The World of Northern Evergreens (2011). Comstock Publishing Associates (a division of Cornell University Press).

References

External links

Profile at science.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pielou, Evelyn Chrystalla 1924 births 2016 deaths Mathematical ecologists Canadian ecologists Academic staff of Dalhousie University Canadian women ecologists Fellows of the Ecological Society of America British emigrants to Canada British ecologists Alumni of the University of London