Samuel Joseph McNaughton (born August 10, 1939) was an American

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 ...

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

. He received his

Ph.D. 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 ...

University of Texas-Austin The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public university, public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 stud ...

in 1964, and was tenured to

in 1966.

Research

Sam McNaughton is mainly known for his studies of

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

–

herbivore A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat ...

interactions and consequences of

herbivory A herbivore is an animal anatomically and physiologically evolved to feed on plants, especially upon vascular tissues such as foliage, fruits or seeds, as the main component of its diet. These more broadly also encompass animals that eat n ...

ecosystem An ecosystem (or ecological system) is a system formed by Organism, organisms in interaction with their Biophysical environment, environment. The Biotic material, biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and en ...

s. His focus is on ecosystem metabolism. His team’s research concentrates on these processes and, particularly, the coupling between trophic levels in ecosystems. He was mainly interested in ecosystems where large mammals are significant members of the food web, and how those mammals interact with energy flow and nutrient cycling. The focus of his team’s field studies was Serengeti National Park, Tanzania, east Africa. It is a grazing ecosystem with Earth's largest concentration of such mammals. Previous locations of research fields have included Yellowstone National Park in the USA, the Galapagos Islands, and southern Kenya. He has spent more than thirty years of exploring the interactions between

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

and communities of wild grazers in the grasslands of

Serengeti National Park The Serengeti National Park is a large national park in northern Tanzania that stretches over . It is located in eastern Mara Region and northeastern Simiyu Region and contains over of virgin savanna. The park was established in 1940. The Se ...

. He has also studied differentiation and geographical distributions of

ecotype Ecotypes are organisms which belong to the same species but possess different phenotypical features as a result of environmental factors such as elevation, climate and predation. Ecotypes can be seen in wide geographical distributions and may event ...

s in

Typha ''Typha'' is a genus of about 30 species of monocotyledonous flowering plants in the family Typhaceae. These plants have a variety of common names, in British English as bulrushStreeter D, Hart-Davies C, Hardcastle A, Cole F, Harper L. 2009. ' ...

. His team’s research has documented the patchy distribution of essential minerals and the importance of "critical" habitats where limiting minerals are in sufficient quantity in soils and plants to meet the nutritional needs of growing young animals and pregnant or lactating females. Current research is documenting the response of vegetation, microbes, and animals to supplemental nitrogen, and how the cycles of different minerals interact. He was given 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 ...

for 2004 by

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 ...

Personal life

Born August 10, 1939 Died January 18, 2024 Married – Margaret McNaughton 2 Children Schooling:- Ph.D., University of Texas-Austin, 1964 Postdoctoral Work Stanford University, 1965-1966 Work Background: (1992–2024) Syracuse University, William Rand Kenan Jr. Professor of Science (1966-1992) Syracuse University, Assistant and Associate Professor (1964-1965) Portland State College, Assistant Professor

Important Papers

Four Older Papers Each Cited Over 100 Times: McNaughton, S. J. 1979. Grazing as an optimization process: grass-ungulate relationships in the Serengeti. Am. Nat. 113: 691-703. McNaughton, S. J. 1976. Serengeti migratory wildebeest: facilitation of energy flow by grazing. Science191:92-94. McNaughton, S. J., and L. L. Wolf. 1970. Dominance and the niche in ecological systems. Science 167: 131-139. McNaughton, S. J. 1966. Ecotype function in the Typha community-type. Ecol. Monogr. 36: 297-325.

References

- McNaughton, S. J. 1979. Grazing as an optimization process: grass-ungulate relationships in the Serengeti. Am. Nat. 113: 691-703. - McNaughton, S. J. 1976. Serengeti migratory wildebeest: facilitation of energy flow by grazing. Science191:92-94. - McNaughton, S. J., and L. L. Wolf. 1970. Dominance and the niche in ecological systems. Science 167: 131-139. - McNaughton, S. J. 1966. Ecotype function in the Typha community-type. Ecol. Monogr. 36: 297-325. {{DEFAULTSORT:McNaughton, Samuel J. American ecologists Living people 1939 births Fellows of the Ecological Society of America Syracuse University alumni University of Texas at Austin alumni Syracuse University faculty