Alex Shigo
Alex L. Shigo ( born May 8, 1930 in Duquesne, Pennsylvania, † October 6, 2006 in Barrington, New Hampshire) was an American forester.
Life
Before Alex Shigo, the biology and the trees devoted, the music was very fond. As a talented clarinet player, he played four years in the Air Force Band in Washington, DC. During this time tours were held up to Toronto and Ontario.
In 1952, he married Marilyn, with whom he had two children together.
Alex Shigo studied in Pennsylvania at Waynesburg College, where he received his bachelor's degree in biology in 1956. From 1958 to 1959, he earned a diploma and a PhD in Plant Pathology at West Virginia University. Over the next 26 years he worked in a pioneering project of the U.S. Forest Service and examined the relationship between discoloration and decay of forest trees, which he acted as chief scientist and project manager.
Alex Shigo died on October 6, according to a stair fall in his summer house. He is survived by his wife Marilyn.
Work
Shigo was known as " the father of modern arboriculture ."
As part of the projects of the U.S. Forest Service, he dissected over 15,000 trees with a chainsaw and has studied trees in many countries. This research yielded 270 publications and he has received numerous honors and awards.
Shigo caused in Germany by his lectures in 1984 on the ISA conference in Heidelberg a rethinking of tree care. Due to its findings on the wound reactions in trees, you went from the pure tree surgery on a tree- biologically based tree care about. Shigo warned of major cuts on trees, as the wound healing process is different than in humans and animals. According to his studies injuries to trees are overgrown by a Kallusschicht, the tissue behind it is encapsulated and eventually decomposed in the woods. Wound closure means which are applied as a skin on the interface that support the growth of pathogenic germs and inhibit the natural wound closure and the self-healing of woody plants. The smaller the cut surface, the easier the wood encapsulate them.
Among critics of the new type of tree care it came to controversial reactions, because not everyone could accept this new view of the trees and the role of tree care immediately for himself and his work, when they saw into question previous knowledge and their work.
Writings
- Together with Klaus Vollbrecht and Niels Hvass: Tree Biology and Tree Care (Eng. biology of trees and tree care A photo - textbook, Ballerup and Mainz, 1989, ISBN 87-982477-3-5. )
- A New Tree Biology (Eng. The new tree biology, 2 volumes, Braunschweig, 1990, ISBN 3-87815-022-9 )
- Tree Pruning (Eng. tree trimming, Braunschweig, 1991, ISBN 3-87815-033-4 )
- Modern Arboriculture (German Modern arboriculture. Basics of tree biology, Braunschweig 1994, ISBN 3-87815-051-2 )
- Tree Anatomy (Eng. tree anatomy. Micro Image Atlas, Braunschweig 1995, ISBN 3-87815-075- X)