COS 124-5
Numbers from nature, the history of field ecology told from the field
To what extent has the combination of people, places, and the point in time influenced the development of ecological thought?
For the last five years, I have been travelling to the sites of major ecological field research that were judged by Real and Brown (1991) as ‘laying the foundations of modern ecology’. In addition, I have added some further sites to extend the reach to the very beginning of ecology, in southern France and ancient Egypt, and into some areas which Real and Brown perhaps neglect (most particularly plant population work and ecological genetics). I have got as close as I could to where the work was done, talked to people about the work where possible and taken many photographs and shot much video.
Results/Conclusions
The results are in the form of digital photographs, videos and notes from interviews with relevant people, and from research of the literature. The ultimate goal is a website featuring photographs, video tours of the key sites as they are today, and archival photographs of the site at the relevant date (where available). Google Earth will be used to set up a Virtual Green Plaque Scheme to put the work, literally, on the map. In addition, I am developing a book, ‘Numbers from Nature- the history of field ecology told from the field
The structure of this will be a chapter per study, including field observations and experiments (both ‘natural’ and devised). The book will feature some of the photography.
All this leads me to conclude that very often, what happened was due to a serendipitous combination of the right person, being in the right place at the right time.
Real, L and Brown, J (1991). Foundations of Ecology, University of Chicago Press