France Staub (September 29, 1920 – July 2, 2005) was a

Mauritian Mauritians (singular Mauritian; french: Mauricien; Creole: ''Morisien'') are nationals or natives of the Republic of Mauritius and their descendants. Mauritius is a multi-ethnic society, with notable groups of people of South Asian (notably I ...

ornithologist, herpetologist, botanist, and conservationist.

Biography

Staub was a descendant of French botanist Jacques Delisse (1773−1856). He obtained the diploma at the Mauritius College of Agriculture in 1944. In 1951 he attended the Guy's Hospital, Medical and Dental School in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he was qualified as a

dental surgeon A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofacial comp ...

. Back on Mauritius he devoted most of his free time to the observation of the birdlife and study of botany in the

Mascarenes The Mascarene Islands (, ) or Mascarenes or Mascarenhas Archipelago is a group of islands in the Indian Ocean east of Madagascar consisting of the islands belonging to the Republic of Mauritius as well as the French department of Réunion. Their ...

and the adjacent islands. He published the two books ''Birds of the Mascarenes and Saint Brandon'' (1976) and ''Fauna of Mauritius and Associated Flora'' (1993) about the avian fauna and several articles in the ''Proceedings of the Royal Society of Arts and Sciences of Mauritius'' of which he was a member since 1955. He was seven times the president of this history society. By 1970 Staub was the chairman of the Mauritian Section of the

International Council for Bird Preservation BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding i ...

. In 1971 he joined the

British Ornithologists' Union The British Ornithologists' Union (BOU) aims to encourage the study of birds ("ornithology") and around the world, in order to understand their biology and to aid their conservation. The BOU was founded in 1858 by Professor Alfred Newton, Henry ...

. Staub is best known for his analysis of relationships between main

pollinator A pollinator is an animal that moves pollen from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma of a flower. This helps to bring about fertilization of the ovules in the flower by the male gametes from the pollen grains. Insects are the maj ...

s such as day geckos or endemic birds like the threatened

Mauritius olive white-eye The Mauritius olive white-eye (''Zosterops chloronothos'', often mistakenly spelled ''Zosterops chloronothus''(2007) Rare Birds Yearbook 2008. England: MagDig Media Lmtd, 208. .) is a very rare and localized passerine from the family of white-ey ...

and their endemic host plants like

Trochetia ''Trochetia'' is a genus of flowering plants from the family Malvaceae (formerly in the Sterculiaceae, but this family is now usually subsumed in the Malvaceae). They are endemic to the Mascarene Islands. The genus was first described by A.P. d ...

.Staub, F. (1993). Fauna of Mauritius and associated flora. Port Louis: Précigraph Limited. 103 p. The vine species '' Cynanchum staubii'' discovered 1965 by France Staub on Ile aux Aigrettes was named by

Jean Marie Bosser Jean Marie Bosser (23 December 1922 – 6 December 2013), sometimes listed as Jean-Michel Bosser was a French botanist and agricultural engineer who worked extensively in Madagascar and Mauritius. Bosser was a researcher at the Laboratoire de Pha ...

References

Publications

*Staub, F., Guého, J. (1968). The Cargados Carajos shoals or St Brandon: resources, avi-fauna and vegetation./Proc. R. Soc. Arts Sci. Maurit/. 3(1): 7-46. *Staub, F. (1970). Geography and ecology of Tromelin Island, Coral Islands of the Western Indian Ocean. / Atoll Res. Bull /. 136: 197–210. *Staub, F. (1973). Oiseaux de l'Ile Maurice et de Rodrigues. Port Louis: Mauritius Printing Company Ltd. 69 p. *Staub, F. (1973). Birds of Rodriguez island. / Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit. /4(1): 17–59. *Staub, F. (1976). Birds of the Mascarenes and Saint Brandon. Port Louis: Organisation Normale des Entreprises Ltée. *Friedmann, F., Guého, J., Staub, F. (1979). Les plus belles fleurs sauvages des Iles Mascareignes. In: Cent-cinquantenaire de la Société Royale des Arts et des Sciences de l'Ile Maurice, 1829–1979. Mauritius : Royal Society of Arts and Sciences p. 29-73. *Guého, J., Staub, F. (1979). "Le Mondrain" Nature Reserve. In: Cent-cinquantenaire de la Société Royale des Arts et des Sciences de l'Ile Maurice, 1829–1979. Mauritius: Royal Society of Arts and Sciences p. 75-102. *Guého, J., Staub, F. (1983). Observations botaniques et ornithologiques à l'atoll d'Agalega. /Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit/. 4(4), 15-110. (Part I. Botanique/by J Guého, p. 15-85; Part II. Ornithologie/by F. Staub, p. 87-110) *Staub, F. (1988). Evolutionary trends in some Maurian Phanerogams in relation to their pollinators./ Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit /. 5(1&2): 7-78 *Staub, F. (1993). Julien Desjardins – 1799–1840. /Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit./5(3): 1-10. (Conférence par France Staub à la Salle Bonâme, MSIRI, le 18 septembre 1990 pour commémorer le 150ème Anniversaire de sa mort). *Staub, F. (1993). Fauna of Mauritius and associated flora. Port Louis: Précigraph Limited. 103 p. *Staub, F. (1993). Faune de l'île Maurice et flore associée. Port Louis: Précigraph Limited. 103 p. *Staub, F. (1993). Guano birds, benefactors of the sugar industry in Mauritius . /Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit./ 5(3): 55–70. *Staub, F. (1993). Requin bleu, calmar géant et cachalot. /Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit./ 5(3): 141–145. *Staub, F. (1993). Dodo and solitaires, myths and reality. /Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit/. 6: 89-122. *Staub, F. (2001). La belle Mandrinette au bois dormant. Weekend, Dimanche 14 janvier, pp 36. *Staub, F. (2004). Palma mater. / Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit /. 7: 55-79 *Staub, F. (2004). Des Toc-Tocs avec le front et la gorge vivement colorés découverts à l'Ile d'Arros des Amirantes. /Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit/. 7: 100–101. *Staub, F. (2004). Visite à l'Ile Rodrigues des membres de la Société Royale des Arts et des Sciences (15-18 août 1997). /Proc. R. Soc. Arts. Sci. Maurit/. 7: 101–113.

References

France Staub Obituary by Anthony Cheke in IBIS, 2005France Staub Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Staub, France Mauritian scientists Mauritian ornithologists 20th-century botanists Conservationists Herpetologists 1920 births 2005 deaths 20th-century zoologists Mauritian expatriates in the United Kingdom