Victor Ernest Shelford
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Victor Ernest Shelford (September 22, 1877 – December 27, 1968) was an American
zoologist Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the structure, embryology, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct, and how they interact with their ecosystems. Zoology is one ...
and animal ecologist who helped to establish
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 ...
as a distinct field of study. He was the first president 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, and helped found the
Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...
in the 1940s. Shelford's early visits to and study of Volo Bog in Northern Illinois helped establish its ecological significance.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.
Volo Bog became the first purchase of the Illinois Nature Conservancy.


Background and education

Shelford was born in
Chemung, New York Chemung is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Chemung County, New York, Chemung County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 2,368 at the 2020 census. The town name is derived from the Chemung River, whi ...
, the eldest son of Alexander Hamilton Shelford and Sarah Ellen Rumsey Shelford. After ten years of schooling, he taught at public schools in
Chemung County, New York Chemung County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The population was 84,148 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Its county seat is Elmira, New York, Elmira. Its name is derived fro ...
in 1894. He attended Cortland Normal and Training School for two years and took a teaching certificate, and returned to teaching at public schools from 1897 to 1899. From 1899 to 1901 he attended
West Virginia University West Virginia University (WVU) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Morgantown, West Virginia, United States. Its other campuses are those of the West Virginia University Ins ...
, where he was influenced by his uncle William E. Rumsey, the assistant state entomologist. In 1901, West Virginia University's president, Jerome H. Raymond, accepted a professorship 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 ...
, where he secured a scholarship for Shelford, who soon transferred. Here he took a position as associate and instructor in zoology from 1903 to 1914. Much of his early work was greatly influenced by Henry C. Cowles. Shelford wrote his doctoral thesis on "Tiger Beetles of Sand Dunes," which described the relation between
beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...
populations and vegetational succession, a topic of interest to Cowles. He completed his paper in 1907 and received a Ph.D. on June 11 of the same year. The next day he married Mary Mabel Brown, with whom he had two children.


Early career

His thesis work led him to five further publications on "Ecological Succession," which were published in the '' Biological Bulletin'' in 1911 and 1912. By 1913 he published one of his great works on ecology, ''Animal Communities in Temperate America''. He took a position for the
University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC, U of I, Illinois, or University of Illinois) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United ...
, where he ended up spending most of his career, in 1914 as an assistant and associate professor of zoology. From then he helped organize 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 ...
(ESA), and became its first president in 1916. He edited and helped compile ''Naturalist's Guide to the Americas'', a 761-page volume published in 1926 that served as an inventory of preserved natural areas and areas in need of protection, for the ESA. This helped him with his later work, ''The Ecology of North America'' (1963). By 1927 Shelford was made a full professor in his position at the University of Illinois. He also was interested in experimental research in both the field and the laboratory. In 1929 he had published ''Laboratory and Field Ecology'', which served as a method book for research in animal ecology. Shelford was known to travel into the field every summer to conduct research. He initiated the "century-cycle" project in 1933 at the University of Illinois' William Trelease Woods, which was used to study the relation between vertebrate and invertebrate populations with environmental factors. The first fifteen years of data collected from this project was published in 1951 in ''Ecological Monographs''. Shelford was the biologist in charge for the Illinois Natural History Survey at their research laboratories from 1914 to 1929. He had also been director of marine ecology at the
Puget Sound Puget Sound ( ; ) is a complex estuary, estuarine system of interconnected Marine habitat, marine waterways and basins located on the northwest coast of the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. As a part of the Salish Sea, the sound ...
Biological Station during alternate summers from 1914 to 1930. Some of his work from this time was published in 1935 in ''Ecological Monographs''.


Later life and work

Much of Shelford's work was on terrestrial ecology, but he also did much aquatic research. Some of his publication in ''
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 ...
'' were studies from locations such as stream communities (1929), bottom communities in western
Lake Erie Lake Erie ( ) is the fourth-largest lake by surface area of the five Great Lakes in North America and the eleventh-largest globally. It is the southernmost, shallowest, and smallest by volume of the Great Lakes and also has the shortest avera ...
(1942), analysis of
tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...
communities (1935), and of Mississippi floodplains (1954). He published a work in 1939 in ''Bio-Ecology'' in collaboration with Frederic E. Clements which attempted to integrate animal, plant, and aquatic ecologies as part of an ideal community. He left the University of Illinois in 1946, but the same year he founded the Ecologist's Union, an organization which promoted the need to preserve entire ecological communities as part of nature conservation. The Union was founded in response to the ESA deciding it would be inappropriate for a scientific society to take a political stance. In 1950 The Ecologist's Union changed its name to
The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is a global environmental organization headquartered in Arlington, Virginia, United States. it works via affiliates or branches in 79 countries and territories, as well as across every state in the US. Founded in ...
, which became a leading national organization for protecting natural areas. Shelford's work with Clements helped to begin to develop the idea of
biome A biome () is a distinct geographical region with specific climate, vegetation, and animal life. It consists of a biological community that has formed in response to its physical environment and regional climate. In 1935, Tansley added the ...
s by characterizing them through flora and fauna. His next work took this further. Representing his last major work, ''The Ecology of North America'' (1963) brought Shelford throughout North America in his research."Shelford, Victor Ernest"
''
Encyclopædia Britannica The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
''. 2006.
In 1968, he received 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 ...
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 ...
for his lifelong contributions to the field of ecology. He also chaired numerous committees, including the Committee on the Preservation of Natural Conditions of the Ecological Society from 1917 to 1938, and the National Research Council Committee on Grasslands from 1932 to 1939. In addition, he founded the Grassland Research Foundation in 1939, which he presided over in 1958, and served as chairman of their scientific advisory board from 1959 to 1968. He died in
Urbana, Illinois Urbana ( ) is a city in Champaign County, Illinois, United States, and its county seat. As of the 2020 census, Urbana had a population of 38,336. It is a principal city of the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, which had 236,000 residents i ...
.


See also

* Shelford's law of tolerance


References


External links


Description and Inventory of Victor Shelford Papers at University of Illinois Archives


{{DEFAULTSORT:Shelford, Victor Ernest 1877 births 1968 deaths People from Chemung, New York American zoologists American ecologists University of Chicago alumni University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign faculty Scientists from New York (state)