Heinz Ellenberg (1 August 1913 in Harburg (Elbe) – 2 May 1997 in

Göttingen Göttingen (, , ; nds, Chöttingen) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. At the end of 2019, t ...

) was a German

biologist A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

. Ellenberg was an advocate of viewing ecological systems through holistic means. He developed 9–point scales for rating European plant preferences for light, temperature,

continentality Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in the middle latitudes (40 to 55 north), within large landmasses where prevailing winds blow overland bringing som ...

(geographic region), nutrients, soil moisture, pH, and

salinity Salinity () is the saltiness or amount of salt dissolved in a body of water, called saline water (see also soil salinity). It is usually measured in g/L or g/kg (grams of salt per liter/kilogram of water; the latter is dimensionless and equal ...

Life

Ellenberg's father (a school teacher) died during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

in 1914. From 1920 to 1932 Ellenberg studied in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, where his interest in local flora and fauna was established, and where he came in contact with Reinhold Tüxen. In 1932 he moved to

Montpellier Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of ...

, where he started his studies of ecology under the direction of

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

ecologist

Josias Braun-Blanquet Josias Braun-Blanquet (3 August 1884 – 20 September 1980) was an influential phytosociologist and botanist. Braun-Blanquet was born in Chur, Switzerland and died in Montpellier, France. Biography Work In Josias Braun-Blanquet's dissertation, s ...

. Later he studied botany, zoology, chemistry and geology in

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

, Hanover and Göttingen, where he obtained a doctorate in 1938 in Göttingen under

Franz Firbas Franz Firbas (born 4 June 1902 in Prague; died 19 February 1964 in Göttingen) was a German botanist who taught at the University of Göttingen. From 1952 to 1964, he was director of their Systematisch-Geobotanisches Institut. Former students inclu ...

. After completing his doctorate he worked at the central office for vegetation mapping in

Hannover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German States of Germany, state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germa ...

under the direction of Reinhold Tüxen and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

served in a "research relay". Ellenberg successfully worked on developing roof plantings of bunkers that would allow them to blend in with landscape and deceive hostile airplanes. These proceeded from layers of earth up to two meters thick, which are still visible today. After the war he served as an assistant of

Heinrich Walter Heinrich Karl Walter (21 October 1898 – 15 October 1989) was a German-Russian botanist and eco-physiologist. Life Walter, the son of a doctor, was born in Odessa. He studied plant biology at the University of Odessa from 1915 to 1917. In 1918 ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

. In 1953 he became a professor at the

University of Hamburg The University of Hamburg (german: link=no, Universität Hamburg, also referred to as UHH) is a public research university in Hamburg, Germany. It was founded on 28 March 1919 by combining the previous General Lecture System ('' Allgemeines Vor ...

. From 1958 he was a director at Department of Botany at the

ETH Zurich (colloquially) , former_name = eidgenössische polytechnische Schule , image = ETHZ.JPG , image_size = , established = , type = Public , budget = CHF 1.896 billion (2021) , rector = Günther Dissertori , president = Joël Mesot , ac ...

. Heinz Ellenberg was among the first to experimentally show the importance of a distinction between

fundamental niche In ecology, a niche is the match of a species to a specific environmental condition. Three variants of ecological niche are described by It describes how an organism or population responds to the distribution of resources and competitors (for ...

and realized niche for plants. He experimentally grew two species of ''

Bromus ''Bromus'' is a large genus of grasses, classified in its own tribe Bromeae. They are commonly known as bromes, brome grasses, cheat grasses or chess grasses. Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 ...

'' along a moisture gradient and showed that, in monoculture, both species were able to inhabit the entire range. Nevertheless, in mixture, the two species dissociated and showed clear preference for either the dry or the moist end of the gradient In 1966 he moved to the

University of Göttingen The University of Göttingen, officially the Georg August University of Göttingen, (german: Georg-August-Universität Göttingen, known informally as Georgia Augusta) is a public research university in the city of Göttingen, Germany. Founded ...

, where he established the

Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen Neuer may refer to: * Neuer (surname) Organizations * Neuer Botanischer Garten der Universität Göttingen, Göttingen * Neuer Botanischer Garten Marburg, Marburg * Neuer Botanischer Garten Tübingen, Tübingen Places * Neuer Dom, Linz Cathedr ...

. He became

emeritus ''Emeritus'' (; female: ''emerita'') is an adjective used to designate a retired chair, professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, emperor, or other person who has been "permitted to retain as an honorary title ...

in 1981. From 1982 to 1986, he served as president of the International Association for Vegetation Science (IAVS). He is a Honorary Member of the International Association for Vegetation Science (1988).

Personal life

In 1941 he married Charlotte Metelmann. After retiring, he ran a farmhouse. In 1996 he published a revised edition of "Vegetation Mitteleuropas mit den Alpen in ökologischer, dynamischer und historischer Sicht".

Bibliography

* ''Vegetation Mitteleuropas mit den Alpen in ökologischer, dynamischer und historischer Sicht''. Stuttgart: Ulmer 1996 (5. Auflage; 1. Auflage: 1963), * ''Zeigerwerte nach Ellenberg, Zeigerwerte von Pflanzen in Mitteleuropa''. - Scripta Geobotanica 1974, 1979 und 1992, * ''Bauernhaus und Landschaft in ökologischer und historischer Sicht''. Stuttgart Ulmer 1990, * ''Unkrautgemeinschaften als Zeiger für Klima und Boden. Landwirtschaftliche Pflanzensoziologie I''. Stuttgart: Ulmer 1950 * (co-author) ''Vegetation Südosteuropas''. München: Urban & Fischer 1974, * ''Wiesen und Weiden und ihre standörtliche Bewertung''. Stuttgart: Ulmer 1952 * ''Aufgaben und Methoden der Vegetationskunde''. Stuttgart: Ulmer 1956 * (Ed.) ''Ökosystemforschung''. Heidelberg, Berlin, New York: Springer Verlag 1973 * ''Ökologische Beiträge zur Umweltgestaltung''. Stuttgart: Ulmer 1983

External links

Catalog
from the

German National Library The German National Library (DNB; german: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek) is the central archival library and national bibliographic centre for the Federal Republic of Germany. It is one of the largest libraries in the world. Its task is to colle ...

Heinz Ellenberg - "Eine ungemein anregende Persönlichkeit"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ellenberg, Heinz 20th-century German biologists 20th-century German botanists German ecologists 1913 births 1997 deaths Members of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences University of Montpellier alumni University of Göttingen alumni Heidelberg University alumni University of Hamburg faculty University of Göttingen faculty ETH Zurich faculty