George David Tilman (born Titman; July 22, 1949), ForMemRS, is an American ecologist. He is Regents Professor and McKnight Presidential Chair in Ecology at the University of Minnesota, as well as an instructor in

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 ...

; Ecology, Evolution, and Behavior; and Microbial Ecology. He is director of the

Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve The Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve is an ecological research site located primarily in East Bethel, Minnesota in the counties of Anoka and Isanti on the northern edge of the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area. Name Originally t ...

long-term ecological research station. Tilman is also a professor at University of California, Santa Barbara's

Bren School of Environmental Science & Management The Bren School of Environmental Science & Management is a graduate professional school at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The mission of the Bren School is to play a leading role in researching environmental issues, identifying and ...

Early life and education

Tilman (born Titman) was born in

Aurora, Illinois Aurora is a city in the Chicago metropolitan area located partially in DuPage County, Illinois, DuPage, Kane County, Illinois, Kane, Kendall County, Illinois, Kendall, and Will County, Illinois, Will counties in the U.S. state of Illinois. Locat ...

in 1949. He earned his Bachelor of Science degree in zoology in 1971 and his

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

in ecology in 1976 at the University of Michigan. Some of his doctoral research was published in the journal '' Science''.

Career and research

In an August 2001 interview, Tilman states that his passion with ecology stems from his love for both math and biology, and ecology is a field that allows him to express both together along with his love for the outdoors. His work explores how both natural and managed ecosystems can be used to meet the needs of humans, whether it be for food, energy, or ecosystem services. Tilman has performed several studies to further determine the usefulness of grasslands for utilization in

biofuel Biofuel is a fuel that is produced over a short time span from biomass, rather than by the very slow natural processes involved in the formation of fossil fuels, such as oil. According to the United States Energy Information Administration (E ...

Resource competition

Tilman is best known for his work on the role of resource competition in community structure and on the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning. One of his most cited articles is the 1994 '' Nature'' article on the ''Biodiversity and stability in grasslands'' which provided data regarding an experiment that began in 1982 with more than 200 plots in a grassland field in the

in Minnesota. Each of these plots was continuously monitored for 20 years for factors such as species richness and

biomass Biomass is plant-based material used as a fuel for heat or electricity production. It can be in the form of wood, wood residues, energy crops, agricultural residues, and waste from industry, farms, and households. Some people use the terms bi ...

created by the community. Tilman's article looked at data both prior to and following a drought on the grassland plots in 1988, which provided surprising results. The drought provided substantial

disturbance Disturbance and its variants may refer to: Math and science * Disturbance (ecology), a temporary change in average environmental conditions that causes a pronounced change in an ecosystem * Disturbance (geology), linear zone of faults and folds ...

and the biomass data showed a strong positive

correlation In statistics, correlation or dependence is any statistical relationship, whether causal or not, between two random variables or bivariate data. Although in the broadest sense, "correlation" may indicate any type of association, in statistics ...

between the plant diversity within the community and the stability of the community as a whole supporting the diversity-stability hypothesis. "The level to which the soil solution concentration of a limiting resource is reduced by an equilibrial monoculture of a species is called R*. R* is the resource concentration a species requires for it to be able to persist in a habitat. A comparable concept, that of threshold density, exists for host-microparasite inter-actions. The species with the lowest R* for a limiting soil resource is predicted to be the superior competitor for that resource." With regards to

succession Succession is the act or process of following in order or sequence. Governance and politics *Order of succession, in politics, the ascension to power by one ruler, official, or monarch after the death, resignation, or removal from office of ...

he focuses on resource ratios, particularly between light and nitrogen. After a big disturbance, the pattern of succession is from high light/low nitrogen towards high nitrogen/low light environment.

Competition and biodiversity

Another article by Tilman that has received substantial citation is his 1994 '' Ecology'' article that encompasses the idea that large numbers of species can coexist in a small habitat even when they require the same

limiting nutrient A limiting factor is a variable of a system that causes a noticeable change in output or another measure of a type of system. The limiting factor is in a pyramid shape of organisms going up from the producers to consumers and so on. A factor not l ...

(such as nitrogen), as long as there is a tradeoff between the species. Basically it means that they can coexist because species that are good

competitors Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

are not as good at colonizing or reproducing. In a related paper, Tilman used this model to demonstrate the phenomenon of " extinction debt," which refers to the time delay between habitat destruction and the extinction of species.

Awards and honors

In 2014, he received the BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in the Ecology and Conservation Biology category, for scientifically establishing the value of biodiversity, quantifying, for the first time, how it contributes to make ecosystems more productive, more resilient to invasions, and more stable in the face of perturbations such as drought. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, is a Fellow of the

American Association for the Advancement of Science The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is an American international non-profit organization with the stated goals of promoting cooperation among scientists, defending scientific freedom, encouraging scientific respons ...

and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and is a member of the

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

. In 2000 Tilman was designated the ''Most Highly Cited Environmental Scientist of the Decade'' by Essential Science Indicators. *1996: Robert H. MacArthur Award *2013:

Alexander von Humboldt Medal The International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS) promotes contact between scientists and others interested in the study of vegetation ecology, promotes research and publication of research results. In 1939 the International Phytosocio ...

*2014:

Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology The Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology ( ca, Premi Ramon Margalef d'Ecologia) is a prize awarded annually by the Generalitat de Catalunya to recognize an exceptional scientific career or discovery in the field of ecology or other environmental scienc ...

*2014: BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award * 2017: Elected a Foreign Member of the Royal Society (ForMemRS)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Tilman, George David Living people 1949 births American ecologists Mathematical ecologists Environmental scientists People from Aurora, Illinois University of Michigan College of Literature, Science, and the Arts alumni University of Minnesota faculty Fellows of the American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Members of the United States National Academy of Sciences Winners of the Heineken Prize Winners of the Ramon Margalef Prize in Ecology Fellows of the Ecological Society of America Foreign Members of the Royal Society