Frederic Clements

Frederic Edward Clements ( born September 16, 1874 in Lincoln, Nebraska; † July 26, 1945 in Santa Barbara, California ) was an American botanist and university professor. Its official botanical author abbreviation is " Clem. ".

Life and work

Clements already dealt with 19 years as planned with the vegetation of his native Nebraska. He studied botany at the University of Nebraska- Lincoln, where he made his Baccaleaureus scientiarum (1894 ), Master of Arts (1896) and in 1898 received his doctorate for PhD. In 1907 he was appointed Professor of Plant Physiology at the University of Nebraska. From 1907 he was professor of botany at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. From 1927 to 1941 he worked as an ecologist at the Carnegie Institute, Washington, DC employed, where he could devote himself entirely free of research on teaching assignments. In the winter he worked at the experimental station in Tucson (Arizona ), and later at the coastal station Santa Barbara (California), in the summer in the Alpine station in Engelmann Canyon at Pikes Peak ( Colorado). At the same time he was since 1934 Employees of the U.S. Soil Conservation Service.

In addition to his extensive research into the natural vegetation areas ran experimental work in the laboratory and greenhouse, in the station at Pikes Peak and the coastal station at Santa Barbara. His interests went far beyond the geography of plants also. Above all, he dealt in detail with the classification of fungi and was one of the first botanists who used experimental methods in ecology flowers. Also practical problems over he was open-minded. Clements was one of the first to recognize the importance of "soil conservation".

In his studies on the vegetation of Nebraska Clements soon realized that the vegetation is not a permanent condition, but gradually transforms, until a conditional by the respective closing air company that has been reached " climax society." He discovered not only the succession of plant communities, but also strove topographic, edaphic, climatic and biological causes whiten the same. He developed this method to detect the plant communities and to map and measure the soil and climatic factors. His research results were reflected in his extensive treatise appeared in 1916 "Plant succession ", which was indicative not only in North America but also in Europe.