Michael G. Barbour (born 1942, died 7 January 2021)
was a Californian botanist and ecologist.
He was a Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Davis.
His fields of expertise were in
autecology
Autecology is an approach in ecology that seeks to explain the distribution and abundance of species by studying interactions of individual organisms with their environments. An autecological approach differs from ecosystem ecology, community ecolo ...
and
synecology
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, ...
of plants and vegetation in stressful environments, including marine strand, tidal salt marsh, vernal pools, warm desert scrub, mixed evergreen forest, oak forest, and montane conifer forest. This research was conducted in Alta and Baja California along the Pacific coast of North America, on the Gulf of Mexico coast, in northwestern Argentina, in southern Australia, in coastal and arid parts of Israel, in mountains of central-to-northern Spain, in mountains of the Canary Islands, and in mountains of Coast Range and Sierra Nevada of California.
Career
Barbour worked at UC Davis from 1967, initially as a faculty member in the Botany Department, then moving to Plant Biology, Environmental Horticulture, and finally Plant Sciences, and retired in 2007.
His teaching and research expertise was in introductory plant biology, plant ecology, forest ecosystems,
fire ecology
Fire ecology is a scientific discipline concerned with the effects of fire on natural ecosystems. Many ecosystems, particularly prairie, savanna, chaparral and coniferous forests, have evolved with fire as an essential contributor to habitat vit ...
, plant communities of California, and concepts and methods in plant community ecology. He co-authored textbooks in introductory plant biology, plant ecology, and the vegetation of California and North America.
His research was on the vegetation of such habitats as coastal dune, tidal salt marsh, montane conifer forest, vernal pool, Mediterranean-climate woodland, and warm desert scrub. His focus was on determining how vegetation or dominant species tolerate and respond to particular environmental stresses such as salt spray, soil salinity, competition, snow pack, summer drought and heat, freezing temperatures, fog, soil structure, and wildfire.
During his career Barbour was active in numerous organizations: Vice Chair/Chair, Vegetation Section of the Ecological Society of America, 1993-95; Vice Chair/Chair, North American Chapter of International Association for Vegetation Science, 1999-2003; Member/Chair, National Panel on Vegetation Classification, 1995-2009; member of American Institute of Biological Science, Botanical Society of America, British Ecological Society, California Botanical Society, Ecological Society of America, International Association for Vegetation Science, and California Native Plant Society.
References
Web Sources
Michael Barbour's Slide Inventory An extensive collection of slides from Barbour's lifetime of work studying California wildland vegetation.
UC Davis Emeriti Association Video Interview Barbour discusses his career at the University of California at Davis, including important persons and events that shaped his interests and scholarship, how he came to the Davis campus and his experiences, relationships and accomplishments as a member of the University and the local community.
A comprehensive list of Barbour's publications throughout his career.
21st-century American botanists
1942 births
2021 deaths
20th-century American botanists
American ecologists
University of California, Davis faculty
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