The ecological relations of roots (1919) (14750484166)

John Ernst Weaver ( 5 May 1884 – 8 June 1966) was an American

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

prairie Prairies are ecosystems considered part of the temperate grasslands, savannas, and shrublands biome by ecologists, based on similar temperate climates, moderate rainfall, and a composition of grasses, herbs, and shrubs, rather than trees, as the ...

ecologist, and university professor.

Biography

Weaver was born in

Villisca, Iowa Villisca is a city in Montgomery County, Iowa, United States. The population was 1,132 at the time of the 2020 census. It is most notable for the unsolved axe mass murder that took place in the town during the summer of 1912. Geography Villis ...

. He obtained a PhD in Biology and Botany at the

University of Minnesota The University of Minnesota, formally the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, (UMN Twin Cities, the U of M, or Minnesota) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul, Tw ...

, 1916. He was "Instructor of Botany" at

Washington State College Washington State University (Washington State, WSU, or informally Wazzu) is a public land-grant research university with its flagship, and oldest, campus in Pullman, Washington. Founded in 1890, WSU is also one of the oldest land-grant univer ...

from 1912 to 1913. In 1915 he became "Assistant professor of Botany" at the

University of Nebraska A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the ...

where he was a plant ecology professor from 1917 until his retirement in 1952. Weaver published many works regarding vegetation and ecology of prairies. According to his biography in ''Nebraska Authors'':

Weaver is famous for his studies of the root systems of prairie plants. A student and collaborator of
Frederic Clements Frederic Edward Clements (September 16, 1874 – July 26, 1945) was an American plant ecologist and pioneer in the study of plant ecology and vegetation succession. Biography Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he studied botany at the University of Nebra ...
at the University of Nebraska, he led the study of the responses of prairie plants and the
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...
to the great drought of the 1930s. He co-authored several important botany textbooks with Clements, but moved beyond Clements' paradigm of
plant succession Ecological succession is the process of change in the species structure of an ecological community over time. The time scale can be decades (for example, after a wildfire) or more or less. Bacteria allows for the cycling of nutrients such as ca ...
and in recognizing the need to preserve prairies, altered plant ecologists' views of the place of human efforts in preserving the natural world.

In 1929 Weaver and

Henry Chandler Cowles Henry Chandler Cowles (February 27, 1869 – September 12, 1939) was an American botanist and ecological pioneer (see History of ecology). A professor at the University of Chicago, he studied ecological succession in the Indiana Dunes of Northwes ...

published the first American ecology textbook. According to his obituary at the

Ecological Society of America The Ecological Society of America (ESA) is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States and founded in 1915, ESA publications include peer-reviewed journals, newsletters, fact sheets, and teaching resources. I ...

, which he served as both vice president and president (1924–1925 and 1930 respectively):

He is perhaps most noted for his pioneer studies on the prairies of central North America, particularly in eastern Nebraska and the surrounding area. He made intensive studies of original prairies before the drought of the 1930's, and recorded the subsequent changes of vegetation during and after the drought.

He was also a member of the

Botanical Society of America The Botanical Society of America (BSA) represents professional and amateur botanists, researchers, educators and students in over 80 countries of the world. It functions as a United States nonprofit 501(c)(3) membership society. History The soci ...

, and the Nebraska Academy of Sciences.

Books

*Study of ''Amygdalus persica''. Unpublished thesis (1910) *A Study of the vegetation of Southeastern Washington and Adjacent Idaho. Lincoln, Nebraska. (1917

*The ecological relations of roots. - Carnegie institution of Washington, Publ. 286. (1919

*Root development in the grassland formation, a correlation of the root systems of native vegetation and crop plants. Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington (1920

*Development and activities of roots of crop plants; a study in crop ecology. Carnegie institution of Washington with franc C Jean and John W. Crist (1922) *Experimental vegetation; the relation of climaxes to climates, by Frederic Edward Clements (1874-1945) and J.E. Weaver. Washington, Carnegie Institution of Washington, 1924. *Root development of field crops, by J.E. Weaver. New York tc.McGraw-Hill book company, inc., 1926

*Root Development of Vegetable Crops. with William E. Bruner. McGRAW-HILL BOOK COMPANY, Inc. (1927

*Relative efficiency of roots and tops of plants in protecting the soil from erosion. by Joseph Kramer (1890-?) and J.E. Weaver. incoln Neb. : Printed by authority of the state of Nebraska, (1936) *Plant Ecology. with F.E. Clements. New York, London, McGraw-Hill Book Company, inc. (1938) *North American Prairie. Lincoln, Neb., Johnsen Pub. CO (1954) *Grass country of the Great Plains: Their Nature and Use. Lincoln, Neb., Johnsen Pub. CO with F.W. Albertson (1956) *Native vegetation of Nebraska. Lincoln, University OF Nebraska press (1965) *Prairie plants and their environment; a fifty-year study in the Midwest. Lincoln, University of Nebraska Press (1968)

Writings about drought

*Effects of Drought, Dust, and Intensity of Grazing on Cover and Yield of Short-Grass Pastures, F. W. Albertson and J.E. Weaver. Published in ''Ecological Monographs'', Vol. 14, No. 1 (Jan., 1944), pp. 1-29. *Effects of the Great Drought on the Prairies of Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas, with F. W. Albertson. Published in ''Ecology'', Vol. 17, No. 4 (Oct., 1936), pp. 567-639.

References

External links

Papers of John E. Weaver (1884-1956)
Works available in full-text online at University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Article about ''The Ecological Relations of Roots''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Weaver, John Ernest 1884 births 1966 deaths American botanists American ecologists University of Minnesota alumni University of Nebraska–Lincoln faculty Washington State University faculty