Dan James Pantone is an American

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

and conservationist with a Ph.D. from the

University of California, Davis The University of California, Davis (UC Davis, UCD, or Davis) is a public land-grant research university near Davis, California. Named a Public Ivy, it is the northernmost of the ten campuses of the University of California system. The institut ...

. A former professor at

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

, Dr. Pantone is a researcher who has published numerous refereed articles on

agroecology Agroecology (US: a-grō-ē-ˈkä-lə-jē) is an academic discipline that studies ecological processes applied to agricultural production systems. Bringing ecological principles to bear can suggest new management approaches in agroecosystems. The ...

and

sustainable agriculture Sustainable agriculture is farming in sustainable ways meeting society's present food and textile needs, without compromising the ability for current or future generations to meet their needs. It can be based on an understanding of ecosystem ser ...

. In addition, he is a specialist in

Geographical Information Systems A geographic information system (GIS) is a type of database containing geographic data (that is, descriptions of phenomena for which location is relevant), combined with software tools for managing, analyzing, and visualizing those data. In a br ...

(GIS) which he has used to help conserve

endangered species An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...

. Dr. Pantone has established his broad experience in numerous scientific disciplines by publishing diverse articles ranging from the

biological control Biological control or biocontrol is a method of controlling pests, such as insects, mites, weeds, and plant diseases, using other organisms. It relies on predation, parasitism, herbivory, or other natural mechanisms, but typically also invo ...

of pests to the

conservation biology Conservation biology is the study of the conservation of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions. It is an int ...

of endangered species.

Scientific activities

Pantone completed his doctoral research at UC Davis on the use of biological control agents which is a non-chemical means of controlling agricultural pests. Basically, he innovated a new method of identifying effective biocontrol agents by developing new techniques of plant population biology and

multivariate statistics Multivariate statistics is a subdivision of statistics encompassing the simultaneous observation and analysis of more than one outcome variable. Multivariate statistics concerns understanding the different aims and background of each of the dif ...

(i.e. path analysis). Furthermore, he contributed to the science of the biological control of weeds by pioneering the use of

nematode The nematodes ( or grc-gre, Νηματώδη; la, Nematoda) or roundworms constitute the phylum Nematoda (also called Nemathelminthes), with plant-Parasitism, parasitic nematodes also known as eelworms. They are a diverse animal phylum inhab ...

s as biocontrol agents). In addition to using biological control agents as a non-chemical means of pest control, Pantone researched methods of

no-till No-till farming (also known as zero tillage or direct drilling) is an agricultural technique for growing crops or pasture without disturbing the soil through tillage. No-till farming decreases the amount of soil erosion tillage causes in certai ...

cropping systems and crop cultural techniques to reduce pesticides in

surface runoff Surface runoff (also known as overland flow) is the flow of water occurring on the ground surface when excess rainwater, stormwater, meltwater, or other sources, can no longer sufficiently rapidly infiltrate in the soil. This can occur when th ...

water. Moreover, he developed a pesticide transport submodel for the soil erosion model AGNPS (Agricultural NonPoint Source Pollution), which is one of the most important models used in

soil conservation Soil conservation is the prevention of loss of the topmost layer of the soil from erosion or prevention of reduced fertility caused by over usage, acidification, salinization or other chemical soil contamination. Slash-and-burn and other unsust ...

. The AGNPS submodel simulates pesticide transport and allows the evaluation of various soil conservation techniques to help reduce pesticides in the environment. A significant contribution to botany and weed science was his discovery of a new biotype of common cocklebur (''

Xanthium strumarium ''Xanthium strumarium'' (rough cocklebur, clotbur, common cocklebur, large cocklebur, woolgarie bur) is a species of annual plants of the family Asteraceae. Some sources claim it originates in southern Europe and Asia, but has been extensively na ...

'') in Texas. This newly discovered plant variety is referred to as multiple-seeded cocklebur (MSC). MSC and has up to 25 seeds per fruit, usually producing as many as nine seedlings. Normal common cocklebur has only two seeds per fruit that usually produces only one seedling. Although MSC appears to have enhanced seed production, experiments show that MSC can be controlled with biological control agents and the herbicides more easily than normal common cocklebur. Pantone served as a member of the

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS or FWS) is an agency within the United States Department of the Interior dedicated to the management of fish, wildlife, and natural habitats. The mission of the agency is "working with oth ...

endangered species recovery team involving the biological conservation of one of the rarest plants in North America, ''

Amsinckia grandiflora ''Amsinckia grandiflora'' is a species of fiddleneck known by the common name large-flowered fiddleneck. This is a wildflower endemic to California and considered a Critically endangered species on the state and national level. Distribution The ...

''. In addition, he completed plant population biology field experiments that measured the reproduction and competitive ability of ''A. grandiflora'' in comparison to closely related weedy species in the same genus. Essentially, he used quantitative field experiments to help answer the question why some plants are rare, while others are weedy. Another scientific contribution was his work using methods of GIS to identify the habitat of an endangered plant species based solely on characteristics of its physical environment. Lane Mountain Milk Vetch (''

Astragalus ''Astragalus'' is a large genus of over 3,000 species of herbs and small shrubs, belonging to the legume family Fabaceae and the subfamily Faboideae. It is the largest genus of plants in terms of described species. The genus is native to tempe ...

jaegerianus'') is an endangered plant species endemic to the Mojave Desert in California. Pantone innovated GIS methods to identify the habitat of this rare and endangered species based on elevation, slope, aspect and soil type. In addition to his ecological and environmental research, Pantone has been involved in the preservation of human cultures, being the cofounder of an indigenous rights organization. Furthermore, he has independently filmed and produced five different documentary films on indigenous people of South America. Presently, Pantone is the editor of the Amazon-Indians.org website and the Vice President of the Movement in the Amazon for Tribal Subsistence and Economic Sustainability (MATSES), a non-governmental organization that is providing aid to indigenous people in the Amazon so that they can preserve their culture and lands in a sustainable and independent manner.

Selected publications by Dan James Pantone available on the Internet

*Pantone, D. J. 2006. A forest of their own, the Matsés people on the border of Peru. ''Cultural Survival'' 30(4):32-39

*Pantone, D. J., and R. A. Young. 1996. AGNPS (AGricultural NonPoint Source Pollution): A software program for assessing nonpoint source pesticide pollution. ''HortTechnology'' 6:344-350

*Pantone, D. J., B. M. Pavlik, and R. B. Kelley. 1995. The reproductive attributes of an endangered plant as compared to a weedy congener. ''Biological Conservation'' 71:305-311

*Pantone, D. J., J. B. Baker, and P. W. Jordan. 1992. Path analysis of red rice (''Oryza sativa'') competition with cultivated rice. ''Weed Science'' 40: 313-319

*Pantone, D. J., and J. B. Baker. 1991. Weed-crop competition models and response-surface analysis of red rice competition in cultivated rice: A review. ''Crop Science'' 31:1105-1110

*Pantone, D. J., W. A. Williams, and A. R. Maggenti. 1989. An alternative approach for evaluating the efficacy of potential biocontrol agents for weeds. 1. Inverse linear models. ''Weed Science'' 37:771-776

*Pantone, D. J., S. M. Brown, and C. Womersley. 1985. Biological control of fiddleneck. ''California Agriculture'' 39:4-5

References

External links

MATSES.orgAmazon-Indians.org
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pantone, Dan James 21st-century American botanists American conservationists American ecologists American explorers American naturalists Living people Texas A&M University faculty University of California, Davis alumni Year of birth missing (living people) American male writers