Sten Gustaf Edvard Ahlner (18 September 1905 – 12 January 1991) was a Swedish lichenologist.

Biography

Sten Ahlner was born on 18 September in

Gävle Gävle () is a city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 77,586 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the 13th most populated city in Sweden. It is the oldest city in the historical Norrland (Swede ...

, Sweden, the son of teachers Oscar Ahlner and Anna (née Karlsson). After

matriculating Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now. ...

with high marks in 1924, he entered

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

. He graduated from this university in 1930 with a

filosofie magister A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice.

in botany, zoology, and geography, and in 1936 with a filosofie licentiat in

botany 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 w ...

. A

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

followed in 1948, titled ''Utbredningstyper bland nordiska barrträdslavar'' ("Distribution types among Nordic coniferous lichens"), after which Ahlner was appointed

docent The title of docent is conferred by some European universities to denote a specific academic appointment within a set structure of academic ranks at or below the full professor rank, similar to a British readership, a French " ''maître de conf ...

plant biology 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 ...

. Ahlner was employed at the Botanical section of the

Swedish Museum of Natural History The Swedish Museum of Natural History ( sv, Naturhistoriska riksmuseet, literally, the National Museum of Natural History), in Stockholm, is one of two major museums of natural history in Sweden, the other one being located in Gothenburg. The ...

in Stockholm from 1950 to 1971, and was also a docent in botany at

Stockholm University Stockholm University ( sv, Stockholms universitet) is a public research university in Stockholm, Sweden, founded as a college in 1878, with university status since 1960. With over 33,000 students at four different faculties: law, humanities, so ...

starting in 1955. He was the editor of the journal ''

Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift ''Svensk Botanisk Tidskrift'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal on botany published by the Svenska Botaniska Föreningen since 1907. It is published five times a year. It is abstracted and indexed in BIOSIS Previews and Scopus Scopus is Els ...

'' between 1952 and 1969. Ahlner authored many papers on the lichens of the

Nordic countries The Nordic countries (also known as the Nordics or ''Norden''; literal translation, lit. 'the North') are a geographical and cultural region in Northern Europe and the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It includes the sovereign states of Denmar ...

, with an emphasis on

phytogeography Phytogeography (from Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution o ...

and field botany, rather than

taxonomy Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification. A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...

. He was known for his many journeys across Sweden, Norway, and Finland, on bicycle or by

moped A moped ( ) is a type of small motorcycle, generally having a less stringent licensing requirement than full motorcycles or automobiles. The term used to mean a similar vehicle except with both bicycle pedals and a motorcycle engine. Mopeds typic ...

. On these excursions he made many

scientific collection A scientific collection is a collection of items that are preserved, catalogued, and managed for the purpose of scientific study. Scientific collections dealing specifically with organisms plants, fungi, animals, insects and their remains, may al ...

s of lichens, which are now kept at the

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant specimens and associated data used for scientific study. The specimens may be whole plants or plant parts; these will usually be in dried form mounted on a sheet of paper (called ...

of Natur Historiska Riksmuseet. Regarding his personality, his colleague

Gunnar Degelius Gunnar Bror Fritiof Degelius (né Nilsson until 1932; 27 January 1903 – 22 July 1993) was a Swedish lichenologist. Between the publications of his first and final scientific papers, Degelius had a 70-year-long research career. While he was ...

wrote "he was good-natured and sociable, natural and reliable; in his investigations very solid but conservative (as in other things)". Ahlner died in

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

on 12 January 1991 after a few years of frailty caused by a hip ailment and a heart condition.

Eponyms

Several taxa have been

named after A namesake is a person, geographic location, or other entity bearing the name of another. History The word is first attested around 1635, and probably comes from the phrase "for one's name's sake", which originates in English Bible translations ...

Ahlner: '' Lecidea ahlneri'' ; ''

Lichinodium ahlneri ''Lichinodium ahlneri'' is a species of filamentous lichen belonging to the family Lichinodiaceae. Described as a new species in 1963 by Aino Henssen, the specific epithet honours Swedish lichenologist Sten Ahlner Sten Gustaf Edvard Ahlner ...

'' ; '' Microcalicium ahlneri'' ; and ''

Pannaria ahlneri ''Pannaria'' is a genus of lichen-forming fungi in the family Pannariaceae. The widespread genus contains an estimated 51 species, found primarily in tropical regions. Species *''Pannaria aenea'' *'' Pannaria andina'' *'' Pannaria aotearoana' ...

'' .

Selected publications

* * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahlner, Sten 1905 births 1991 deaths Swedish lichenologists Uppsala University alumni 20th-century Swedish scientists