Historical Figures

Carolus Linnaeus

Believed in the concept of life radiating from a "Paradisical Mountain" in the tropics and described around 13,000 species, including animals and plants.

George-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon

Proposed that the Earth is much older than 6,000 years, taxa change over time, and there is a connection between geological and biological histories.

Johann Reinhold Forster

Developed a systematic global view of botanical regions, supporting Buffon's Law and recognizing relationships between plants and their environment.

Alexander von Humboldt

Founder of phytogeography, suggested the connection between South American and West African coastlines, and introduced the concept of altitudinal vegetation belts.

Augustin de Candolle

Emphasized that competition for resources influences distribution and that various factors like island area, isolation, age, volcanism, and climate impact floristic activity.

Charles Lyell

Known for the Principles of Geology, advocating gradual and ongoing changes in Earth and its biota, and promoting uniformitarianism.

Charles Darwin

Linked Earth's geological history with changes in biota through natural selection, as proposed in "On the Origin of Species" in 1859.

Joseph Dalton Hooker

Believed in a once-exposed land bridge between Africa and South America, later supported by the continental drift theory.

Alfred Russel Wallace

Sent Darwin a manuscript with a theory similar to natural selection, prompting Darwin to publish "On the Origin of Species."

E.W. Hilgard

Founder of soil science, highlighted the role of climate and plants in soil formation from parent material.

Vasily V. Dokuchaev

Noted that soils have characteristic structures, contributing to the understanding of soil science.

Louis Agassiz

Founder of glaciology, proposed the theory of the "Ice Age," but did not accept Darwin's theories.

Clinton Hart Merriam

Coined the term "biogeography" and confirmed similarities in plant species composition between elevational and latitudinal variations.

Ernst Mayr

Introduced the Biological Species concept, defining a species as reproductively isolated populations.

Alfred Lothar Wegener

Proposed the theory of continental drift in 1912, suggesting that continents were once joined and are now drifting.

G. Evelyn Hutchinson

Studied diversity and species coexistence, introducing the multidimensional niche concept.

Robert H. MacArthur & Edward O. Wilson:

Developed the Theory of Island Biogeography, correlating island size with species diversity.

James H. Brown

Founder of macroecology, focusing on large-scale questions about the distribution of organisms and cofounder of metabolic scaling theory.