When looking back to applied plant ecology, so many historical figures have laid the foundation for us today. One ecologist that stood out to me was Charles Sutherland Elton, who had many accomplishments in his 91 years. He is also known as the father of animal ecology. Charles Elton was born on March 29, 1900, in Manchester. He grew up in a middle-class family with two older brothers. Elton’s father, Oliver, was a professor of English at Liverpool and his mother, Letitia, was a writer. In 1927. His older brother Geoffrey had died, and Elton dedicated his first book to his older brother since he was an inspiration to Elton. Elton was a zoologist and animal ecologist who focused on community ecology, invasive species, and population development. Elton studied zoology at Liverpool College and Oxford University and graduated in 1922. After graduating, Elton remained at Oxford as a departmental demonstrator and, over the years, retained a position as a university reader in animal ecology during 1936. At Oxford University, Elton heavily focused on the interrelationship of animals in their natural habitats, which led him to many expeditions for his research.
Elton went on a few expeditions to the arctic islands in 1921, 1923, and 1924, taking ecological surveys. During expeditions, Elton got more prominent roles from 1927 to 1932 as the first chairman and treasurer of the Oxford Exploration Club. His Arctic research expedition ended in 1930, and all these expeditions had shifted his views on ecology. This also led him to continue his research in Scotland, Hudson Bay Company, and Wytham Woods in Oxford. In 1927, Elton published Animal Ecology, which focused on ecological principles of animal behaviour. This publication included detailed observations of food chains, species diet, food cycle, population cycles, the influence of predators on prey, and a pyramid to explain the feeding relationship in the ecosystem. With this research, Elton established the Bureau of Animal Population at Oxford and became the first editor of the Journal of Animal Ecology in 1932. Later, during the Second World War, the Bureau of Animal Population was given a project to find ways to control rats, rabbits, and mice. This led to Elton spending 20 years researching methods and surveying species in Oxford. In 1949, Elton’s nature conservation research led him to be a critical part of the Nature Conservancy Council and elected him to the Royal Society.
After all his accomplishments, Elton published in 1958, The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants founded invasion ecology. This book mainly focused on biological invasions and introduced the ideas of the dangers of invasive species. After accomplishing so much and laying a foundation for ecology, Elton retired in 1967. However, even after his retirement (1970), he had received the Darwin Medal for all his hard work. It is truly inspiring how much he accomplished in his 91 years as an ecologist.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 