Léopold Nicolas Reichling (March 11, 1921 in

Luxembourg City Luxembourg (; ; ), also known as Luxembourg City ( or ; ; or ), is the capital city of Luxembourg and the Communes of Luxembourg, country's most populous commune. Standing at the confluence of the Alzette and Pétrusse rivers in southern Luxe ...

– May 2, 2009) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

ish

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 ...

and

naturalist Natural history is a domain of inquiry involving organisms, including animals, fungi, and plants, in their natural environment, leaning more towards observational than experimental methods of study. A person who studies natural history is cal ...

. He is especially known for his publications in the fields of

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

zoology Zoology ( , ) is the scientific study of animals. Its studies include the anatomy, structure, embryology, Biological classification, classification, Ethology, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinction, extinct, and ...

and

nature conservation Nature conservation is the ethic/moral philosophy and conservation movement focused on protecting species from extinction, maintaining and restoring habitats, enhancing ecosystem services, and protecting biological diversity. A range of values ...

. He assembled three major scientific collections: an

herbarium A herbarium (plural: herbaria) is a collection of preserved plant biological specimen, 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 sh ...

, a collection of

heteroptera The Heteroptera are a group of about 40,000 species of insects in the order Hemiptera. They are sometimes called "true bugs", though that name more commonly refers to the Hemiptera as a whole. "Typical bugs" might be used as a more unequivocal al ...

and a collection of human artefacts of the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. The following taxa were named after Léopold Reichling: :* ''Asplenium'' ×''reichlingii'' Lawalrée, 1951; a monstrous form of the

fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...

Asplenium trichomanes ''Asplenium trichomanes'', the maidenhair spleenwort (not to be confused with the similar-looking Adiantum, maidenhair fern), is a small fern in the spleenwort genus ''Asplenium''. It is a widespread and common species, occurring almost worldwide ...

; :*
Taraxacum reichlingii
' Soest, 1971; a

plant Plants are the eukaryotes that form the Kingdom (biology), kingdom Plantae; they are predominantly Photosynthesis, photosynthetic. This means that they obtain their energy from sunlight, using chloroplasts derived from endosymbiosis with c ...

; :*
Lichenoconium reichlingii
' Diederich, 1986; a

fungus A fungus (: fungi , , , or ; or funguses) is any member of the group of eukaryotic organisms that includes microorganisms such as yeasts and mold (fungus), molds, as well as the more familiar mushrooms. These organisms are classified as one ...

; :*
Reichlingia leopoldii
' Diederich & Scheid., 1996; a

lichen A lichen ( , ) is a hybrid colony (biology), colony of algae or cyanobacteria living symbiotically among hypha, filaments of multiple fungus species, along with yeasts and bacteria embedded in the cortex or "skin", in a mutualism (biology), m ...

Lichenoconium reichlingii at lichenology info

350px, ''Reichlingia leopoldii'' Diederich & Scheid., 1996.
Photo: Norbert Stapper. 350px, ''Reichlingia leopoldii'' Diederich & Scheid., 1996. Details.
Photo: Norbert Stapper.

Career

Léopold Reichling began his career in 1949 as a teacher of biology at the "Lycée de garçons" in Luxembourg-city. In 1957, he became professor of botany to the "Cours supérieurs de Luxembourg" (precursor of

University of Luxembourg The University of Luxembourg (French language, French: ''Université du Luxembourg''; German language, German: ''Universität Luxemburg''; Luxembourgish language, Luxembourgish: ''Universitéit Lëtzebuerg'') is a Public university, public researc ...

). Reichling is considered a pioneer of

phytosociology Phytosociology, also known as phytocoenology or simply plant sociology, is the study of groups of species of plant that are usually found together. Phytosociology aims to Empirical evidence, empirically describe the vegetative environment of a giv ...

in LuxembourgCf. L. Reichling
Ce que sera la carte des groupements végétaux du Luxembourg
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 57(1952): 204-218. and an eminent specialist in the

flora Flora (: floras or florae) is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. The corresponding term for animals is ''fauna'', and for f ...

of the Grand Duchy. After his retirement in 1981, he intensively devoted himself to the investigation of terrestrial

in Luxembourg. Léopold Reichling was president of the Luxembourg Naturalist Society (Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois, SNL) (1962–1968) and of the league "Natura", an overhead organization of nature conservation. In 1997, he accepted the prize “Hëllef fir d'Natur” in recognition of his research tasks and his commitment in favor of nature conservation in Luxembourg.

Bibliography (selection)

''Botany'' * Reichling, L., 1951. Les forêts du Grès de Luxembourg. Bull. Soc. r. Bot. Belg. 83: 163–212. * Reichling, L., 1954. L’élément atlantique dans la végétation de la vallée inférieure de l’Ernz noire (G.-D. de Luxembourg). Archs Inst. g.-d. Luxemb., sect. sci. nat., phys. math. 21: 99–114. * Reichling, L., 1955. Les Epipactis de la flore luxembourgeoise. Archs Inst. g.-d. Luxemb., sect. sci. nat., phys., math., N.S., 22: 123–145. * Reichling, L., 1958
Application de cartes à réseau au recensement floristique du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg.
Bull. Soc. Nat. Luxemb. 61 (1956): 12–28
Supplément
16 S. * Reichling, L., 1965. ''Die luxemburgischen Standorte des Hautfarns Hymenophyllum tunbrigense (L.) Sm. Ber.'' Arbeitsgem. sächs. Botan., N.F. 5-6 (1963/64) (1): 141-154 * Reichling, L., 1966
''Les Marchantiales-Marchantiineae de la ville de Luxembourg.''
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 67: 3-26. * Reichling, L., 1970. ''Die Gattung Epipactis in Luxemburg.'' Jber. naturw. Ver. Wuppertal, 23 : 88–97. * Reichling, L., 1974. ''In Luxemburg geschützte Pflanzen. Übersicht sowie Anleitung zum Kennenlernen der in Luxemburg geschützten wildwachsenden Pflanzenarten.'' Natura (éd.), Luxemburg, 23 p. * Reichling, L., 1981
''30 années d'observations floristiques au Luxembourg, 1949-1979.''
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 83-84: 75–95. * Reichling, L., 1990
''Observations floristiques au Luxembourg 1980-1989.''
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 90 (1990): 55–70. * Reichling, L. & R. Thorn (collab.), 1997. ''Trichomanes speciosum Willd., un mystérieux passager clandestin.'' Adoxa, No 15/16 (avril 1997): 1–3. ''Zoology'' * Reichling, L., 1951
''Le Gastéropode Helix aspersa Müller (petit-gris) aux environs de Luxembourg.''
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 55 : 362–367. * Reichling, L., 1952
''Nouvelles observations du Gastéropode Helix aspersa Müller au Grand-Duché de Luxembourg.''
Bull. Soc. Nat. luxemb. 56: 24–25. * Reichling, L. 1984
''Hétéroptères du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. 1. Psallus (Hylopsallus) pseudoplatani n. sp. (Miridae, Phylinae) et espèces apparentées.''
Travaux Scientifiques du Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Luxembourg, 4 (1): 1–18. * Reichling, L., 1985
''Hétéroptères du Grand-Duché de Luxembourg. 2. Quelques espèces peu connues, rares ou inattendues.''
Travaux Scientifiques du Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Luxembourg, 4 (2): 1-45. * Reichling, L., 2001
''Atlas des hétéroptères non-aquatiques du Luxembourg.''
Travaux Scientifiques du Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Luxembourg: 1–134.

Sources

* G. Hausemer, 2006. ''Luxemburger Lexikon. Das Großherzogtum von A-Z.'' Editions Binsfeld, Luxembourg, 479 p. (Reichling: p. 357). . * J.A. Massard, 1990. ''La Société des Naturalistes Luxembourgeois du point de vue historique.'' Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 91: 5-214 (Reichling: p. 167-168)

* J. Werner, 1986. ''Léopold Reichling a 65 ans.'' Bulletin de la Société des naturalistes luxembourgeois 86 : 3–4

* J. Werner, 2009. ''Hommage à Léopold Reichling (1921-2009).'' In: Luxemburger Wort, No. 117, 20 May 2009, p. 85. * P. Ziesaire, 2009. ''Léopold Reichling: zwanzig Jahre vor- und frühgeschichtliche Forschung und Prospektion in Luxemburg. Eine Hommage an einen eminenten Luxemburger Naturwissenschaftler.'' Bulletin de la Société préhistorique luxembourgeoise 27-28 (2005–2007): 9-60.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Reichling, Leopold 1921 births 2009 deaths Luxembourgian entomologists People from Luxembourg City 20th-century zoologists