Paul Gordon Jarvis (23 May 19355 February 2013) was a leading

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 ...

and

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

Forestry Forestry is the science and craft of creating, managing, planting, using, conserving and repairing forests and woodlands for associated resources for human and Natural environment, environmental benefits. Forestry is practiced in plantations and ...

and

Natural Resource Natural resources are resources that are drawn from nature and used with few modifications. This includes the sources of valued characteristics such as commercial and industrial use, aesthetic value, scientific interest, and cultural value. ...

s at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh (, ; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a Public university, public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded by the City of Edinburgh Council, town council under th ...

from 1975 to 2001.

Education

Jarvis was educated at

Oriel College, Oxford Oriel College () is Colleges of the University of Oxford, a constituent college of the University of Oxford in Oxford, England. Located in Oriel Square, the college has the distinction of being the oldest royal foundation in Oxford (a title for ...

graduating with a

Bachelor of Arts A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts deg ...

degree in

Botany 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 ...

in 1957. He went to

graduate school Postgraduate education, graduate education, or graduate school consists of academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications usually pursued by post-secondary students who have earned an undergraduate (bachel ...

at the

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Fir ...

where he was awarded a PhD in 1960 for research on the growth and regeneration of Irish oak ''Quercus petraea''. Funded by a

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

scholarship, he moved to

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially fou ...

where he was awarded a second doctorate in

plant physiology Plant physiology is a subdiscipline of botany concerned with the functioning, or physiology, of plants. Plant physiologists study fundamental processes of plants, such as photosynthesis, respiration, plant nutrition, plant hormone functions, tr ...

in 1963.

Career and research

In 1964 he moved to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

, where he did

postdoctoral research A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...

at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO). He returned to the United Kingdom in 1966, where he worked at the

University of Aberdeen The University of Aberdeen (abbreviated ''Aberd.'' in List of post-nominal letters (United Kingdom), post-nominals; ) is a public university, public research university in Aberdeen, Scotland. It was founded in 1495 when William Elphinstone, Bis ...

for nine years until 1975, and then at the

for twenty six years where he was a Professor until his retirement in 2001. Jarvis research interests were in

plant ecology Plant ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology that studies the distribution and abundance (ecology), abundance of plants, the effects of environmental factors upon the abundance of plants, and the interactions among plants and between plants and ...

and

. He demonstrated the link between forests and the atmosphere using novel techniques for measuring leaf

water potential Water potential is the potential energy of water per unit volume relative to pure water in reference conditions. Water potential quantifies the tendency of water to move from one area to another due to osmosis, gravity, mechanical pressure and mat ...

and

stomatal conductance Stomatal conductance, usually measured in mmol m−2 s−1 by a porometer, estimates the rate of gas exchange (i.e., carbon dioxide uptake) and transpiration (i.e., water loss as water vapor) through the leaf stomata as determined by the degree of ...

. He is the author, co-author or editor of several textbooks and monographs including ''The carbon balance of forest biomes'' Howard Griffiths and Paul Jarvis (2005) The carbon balance of forest biomes with Howard Griffiths.

Awards and honours

Jarvis was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS) in 1997. His certificate of election reads: In 1978, Jarvis was a founding member of the influential

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

'' Plant, Cell & Environment'' with David Jennings a mycologist at the

University of Liverpool The University of Liverpool (abbreviated UOL) is a Public university, public research university in Liverpool, England. Founded in 1881 as University College Liverpool, Victoria University (United Kingdom), Victoria University, it received Ro ...

;

John Raven John Earle Raven (13 December 1914 – 5 March 1980) was an English classical scholar, notable for his work on pre-Socratic philosophy, and amateur botanist. His wife, Faith, inherited the 35,000 acre Ardtornish Estate in Argyllshire, Scotland ...

, a botanist at the

University of Dundee The University of Dundee is a public research university based in Dundee, Scotland. It was founded as a university college in 1881 with a donation from the prominent Baxter family of textile manufacturers. The institution was, for most of its ...

; Harry Smith at the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public research university in Nottingham, England. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. Nottingham's main campus (University Park Campus, Nottingh ...

and the publisher Bob Campbell at

Blackwell Scientific publications Wiley-Blackwell is an international scientific, technical, medical, and scholarly publishing business of John Wiley & Sons. It was formed by the merger of John Wiley & Sons Global Scientific, Technical, and Medical business with Blackwell Publish ...

. He served on the editorial board of '' Photosynthetica'', was the President of the

Society for Experimental Biology The Society for Experimental Biology is a learned society for animal, cell and plant biologists. It was founded in 1923 at Birkbeck College to "promote the art and science of experimental biology in all its branches". It aims to demonstrate the im ...

from 1993 to 1995 and a Commissioner of the Countryside Commission for Scotland. He was also an elected Fellow of the

Royal Society of Edinburgh The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) is Scotland's national academy of science and letters. It is a registered charity that operates on a wholly independent and non-partisan basis and provides public benefit throughout Scotland. It was establis ...

in 1979, the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry, the

Institute of Chartered Foresters The Institute of Chartered Foresters (ICF) is the professional body for foresters and arboriculturists in the United Kingdom. Its royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters pat ...

and the

Institute of Biology The Institute of Biology (IoB) was a professional body for biologists, primarily those working in the United Kingdom. The Institute was founded in 1950 by the Biological Council: the then umbrella body for Britain's many learned biological societie ...

Personal life

Jarvis met his wife Margaret while they were both undergraduates at Oxford, they had three children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jarvis, Paul Gordon 1935 births 2013 deaths Fellows of the Royal Society Fellows of the Royal Society of Edinburgh British ecologists Alumni of Oriel College, Oxford Alumni of the University of Sheffield Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Agriculture and Forestry