Henry C Cowles in the Santa Catalina Mountains Arizona 1913

Henry Chandler Cowles (February 27, 1869 – September 12, 1939) was an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and

ecological 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 ...

pioneer. A professor at the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...

, he studied

ecological succession Ecological succession is the process of how species compositions change in an Community (ecology), ecological community over time. The two main categories of ecological succession are primary succession and secondary succession. Primary successi ...

in the

Indiana Dunes Indiana Dunes National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the ...

of Northwest Indiana.Smith, S. & Mark, S. (2009)
The Historical Roots of the Nature Conservancy in the Northwest Indiana/Chicagoland Region: From Science to Preservation
. The South Shore Journal, 3. This led to efforts to preserve the Indiana Dunes. One of Cowles' students, O. D. Frank continued his research.

Life and work

Born in

Kensington Kensington is an area of London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, around west of Central London. The district's commercial heart is Kensington High Street, running on an east–west axis. The north-east is taken up by Kensingt ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, Cowles attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. He studied at the

with the plant taxonomist John M. Coulter and the geologist

Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin (; September 25, 1843 – November 15, 1928) was an American geologist and educator. In 1893 he founded the ''Journal of Geology'', of which he was editor for many years. Biography Chamberlin was born September 25, 184 ...

as main teachers. He obtained his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

in 1898 for his study of vegetation

succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

on the

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan ( ) is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...

sand dunes. The inspiration to these studies came from reading ''

Plantesamfund ''Plantesamfund - Grundtræk af den økologiske Plantegeografi'', published in Danish in 1895 by Eugen Warming, and in English in 1909 as ''Oecology of Plants: An Introduction to the Study of Plant Communities'', by Warming and Martin Vahl, was the ...

'' by the Danish botanist and pioneer ecologist

Eugen Warming Johannes Eugenius Bülow Warming (3 November 1841 – 2 April 1924), known as Eugen Warming, was a Danish botanist and a main founding figure of the scientific discipline of ecology. Warming wrote the first textbook (1895) on plant ecology, tau ...

. Cowles studied Danish to be able to read the original and later (1905) visited Warming in

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

. The translation of Warming's term into English as "Oecology" led to Cowles becoming one of the primary popularizers of the term

ecology Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their Natural environment, environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community (ecology), community, ecosystem, and biosphere lev ...

in the United States. Cowles was one of the founding members of 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 ...

in 1915. Cowles married Elizabeth Waller in 1900, and their daughter Harriet was born in 1912.

Legacy

One of Cowles's field study locations is now named ''Cowles Bog'' in his honor;

Cowles Bog Cowles Bog is a 4,000-year-old wetland complex in Indiana Dunes National Park, near Chesterton, Indiana. It is named for Henry Chandler Cowles who did his pioneering work in ecology and ecological succession here. His work brought international ...

and nearby dune locations were later preserved for the public as part of the

Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore Indiana Dunes National Park is a national park of the United States located in northwestern Indiana managed by the National Park Service. It was authorized by Congress in 1966 as the Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore and was redesignated as the ...

(national park as of February 2019). Cowles Bog is located west of Mineral Springs Road in the Town of Dune Acres, Indiana. Among Cowles's students who advanced American ecology were Victor E. Shelford,

William Skinner Cooper William Skinner Cooper (25 August 1884 – 8 October 1978) was an American ecologist. Cooper received his B.S. in 1906 from Alma College in Michigan. In 1909, he entered graduate school at the University of Chicago, where he studied with Henry Cha ...

, Paul B. Sears,

George Damon Fuller George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorg ...

, Walter P. Cottam, Arthur G. Vestal and May Theilgaard Watts. Cowles also served as a special field assistant of the

United States Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), founded as the Geological Survey, is an agency of the U.S. Department of the Interior whose work spans the disciplines of biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The agency was founded on Mar ...

Works

His publications include:
''Ecological Relations of the Vegetation on the Sand Dunes of Lake Michigan''
(1899)
''Text-Book of Botany'', Volume II: Ecology
(1910) (with

John Merle Coulter John Merle Coulter, Ph. D. (November 20, 1851 – December 23, 1928) was an American botanist and educator. In his career in education administration, Coulter is notable for serving as the president of Indiana University and Lake Forest College ...

(Volume I, Part I: Morphology) and

Charles Reid Barnes Charles Reid Barnes (1858–1910) was an American botanist specializing in bryophytes (mosses, liverworts and hornworts). He was co-editor of the ''Botanical Gazette'' for over 25 years. Barnes was born at Madison, Indiana, September 7, 1858. He ...

(Volume I, Part II: Physiology)
''Plant Societies of Chicago and Vicinity''
(1901)

References

External links

Henry C. Cowles, University of Chicago.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cowles, Henry Chandler American botanists American ecologists Ecological succession People from Kensington, Connecticut Oberlin College alumni University of Chicago alumni 1869 births 1939 deaths Presidents of the American Association of Geographers

Life and work

Legacy

Works

See also

References

External links