Alvar Palmgren
Encyclopedia
Alvar Palmgren was a Finnish
botanist and plant ecologist.
Palmgren studied botany
at the University of Helsinki
under professor J.P. Norrlin. He graduated (Fil.kand.) in 1906 and obtained his Ph.D. in 1914. He became docent of botany
at the University of Helsinki 1916 and professor of botany
at the same university in 1928 (from 1938, the first in the special Swedish
-language chair of botany). He retired in 1950.
botanist with microspecies of Taraxacum
, Hieracium
and other genera
. As an ecologist, he worked of the nature of plant communities. He supported the ideas of Henry Gleason
on the individualistic behaviour of species in community assembly already from the 1920s.
Palmgren wrote early accounts on the role of isolation and stochastic events in the distribution of species, while his contemporary biology was largely deterministic.
botanist and phytogeographer
Paul Jaccard
over the interpretation of Jaccard's species-to-genus ratio. Palmgren had observed a decrease in species richness from west to east in the Åland Islands
, his main geographical scene of scientific inquiry. He interpreted this as an effect of isolation from the Swedish
mainland to the west, and the associated lower species-to-genus ratio as a random sampling effect. In contrast, Jaccard held that the lower species-to-genus ratio towards the east was an effect of decreased diversity in habitat conditions and increased competitive exclusion. The Swiss botanist
Arthur Maillefer
showed statistically that genera
accumulate much faster than species
and that therefore Paul Jaccard
's biological explanation of the pattern was unnecessary since it could be fully explained as a statistical sampling effect. An analytical solution with the same result was provided by the Hungarian
mathematician
George Pólya
. In essence, this disagreement were repeated by Charles Elton
vs. C. B. Williams
and again reiterated by Peter Grant
and Daniel Simberloff
in the 1970s.
In addition to his botanical work, Palmgren made an impressive political act as a 22-year-old student. He initiated and led a movement among young Finnish men to refuse conscription
service in the Russian Emperial
Army. A rescript of 1900 by Nicholas II of Russia
, sovereign of the Grand Duchy of Finland
, put Finnish conscripts
under the Russian
military top. The 'strike' movement forced a withdrawal by 1905.
Alvar Palmgren was the father of the zoologist Pontus Palmgren (born 1907).
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
botanist and plant ecologist.
Palmgren studied botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
at the University of Helsinki
University of Helsinki
The University of Helsinki is a university located in Helsinki, Finland since 1829, but was founded in the city of Turku in 1640 as The Royal Academy of Turku, at that time part of the Swedish Empire. It is the oldest and largest university in Finland with the widest range of disciplines available...
under professor J.P. Norrlin. He graduated (Fil.kand.) in 1906 and obtained his Ph.D. in 1914. He became docent of botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
at the University of Helsinki 1916 and professor of botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
at the same university in 1928 (from 1938, the first in the special Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
-language chair of botany). He retired in 1950.
Research
Palmgren worked as a systematicSystematics
Biological systematics is the study of the diversification of terrestrial life, both past and present, and the relationships among living things through time. Relationships are visualized as evolutionary trees...
botanist with microspecies of Taraxacum
Taraxacum
Taraxacum is a large genus of flowering plants in the family Asteraceae. They are native to Eurasia and North America, and two species, T. officinale and T. erythrospermum, are found as weeds worldwide. Both species are edible in their entirety...
, Hieracium
Hieracium
Hieracium known by its common name Hawkweed and long ago by its classical name hierakion which comes from the ancient Greek hierax, "a hawk"...
and other genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
. As an ecologist, he worked of the nature of plant communities. He supported the ideas of Henry Gleason
Henry Gleason
Henry Allan Gleason was a noted American ecologist, botanist, and taxonomist, most recognized for his endorsement of the individualistic/open community concept of ecological succession.- Life and work :...
on the individualistic behaviour of species in community assembly already from the 1920s.
Palmgren wrote early accounts on the role of isolation and stochastic events in the distribution of species, while his contemporary biology was largely deterministic.
Jaccard dispute
In the 1920s, Palmgren entered in a heated dispute with the SwissSwitzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
botanist and phytogeographer
Phytogeography
Phytogeography , also called geobotany, is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of plant species...
Paul Jaccard
Paul Jaccard
Paul Jaccard was a professor of botany and plant physiology at the ETH Zurich. He studied at the University of Lausanne and ETH Zurich...
over the interpretation of Jaccard's species-to-genus ratio. Palmgren had observed a decrease in species richness from west to east in the Åland Islands
Åland Islands
The Åland Islands form an archipelago in the Baltic Sea. They are situated at the entrance to the Gulf of Bothnia and form an autonomous, demilitarised, monolingually Swedish-speaking region of Finland...
, his main geographical scene of scientific inquiry. He interpreted this as an effect of isolation from the Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
mainland to the west, and the associated lower species-to-genus ratio as a random sampling effect. In contrast, Jaccard held that the lower species-to-genus ratio towards the east was an effect of decreased diversity in habitat conditions and increased competitive exclusion. The Swiss botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
Arthur Maillefer
Arthur Maillefer
Arthur Maillefer was a Swiss botanist and plant geographer.He studied numerous classic botanical disciplines, including plant systematics and floristics. He also was very modern in his use of numerical analysis and mathematics...
showed statistically that genera
Genus
In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...
accumulate much faster than species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
and that therefore Paul Jaccard
Paul Jaccard
Paul Jaccard was a professor of botany and plant physiology at the ETH Zurich. He studied at the University of Lausanne and ETH Zurich...
's biological explanation of the pattern was unnecessary since it could be fully explained as a statistical sampling effect. An analytical solution with the same result was provided by the Hungarian
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
mathematician
Mathematician
A mathematician is a person whose primary area of study is the field of mathematics. Mathematicians are concerned with quantity, structure, space, and change....
George Pólya
George Pólya
George Pólya was a Hungarian mathematician. He was a professor of mathematics from 1914 to 1940 at ETH Zürich and from 1940 to 1953 at Stanford University. He made fundamental contributions to combinatorics, number theory, numerical analysis and probability theory...
. In essence, this disagreement were repeated by Charles Elton
Charles Sutherland Elton
Charles Sutherland Elton FRS was an English zoologist and animal ecologist. His name is associated with the establishment of modern population and community ecology, including studies of invasive organisms.-Personal life:...
vs. C. B. Williams
Carrington Bonsor Williams
Carrington Bonsor Williams F.R.S. better known as C. B. Williams or just "C.B." to friends was an English entomologist and ecologist. His name is particularly associated with insect migration and with statistical ecology and biogeography-Early life:Williams' father was Alfred Williams, a banker...
and again reiterated by Peter Grant
Peter and Rosemary Grant
Peter Raymond Grant and Barbara Rosemary Grant, a married couple, are both British evolutionary biologists at Princeton University; each holds the position of Emeritus Professor. They are noted for their work concerning Darwin's finches on the Galápagos Island named Daphne Major...
and Daniel Simberloff
Daniel Simberloff
Daniel Simberloff is a biologist and ecologist who earned his Ph.D. from Harvard University in 1969.Simberloff started his studies in ecology as a student of the biologist E. O. Wilson, one of the co-authors of the theory of Island biogeography . For his Ph.D...
in the 1970s.
Miscelleneous
Palmgren was on the board of Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica from 1916. He was chairman 1920–1957.In addition to his botanical work, Palmgren made an impressive political act as a 22-year-old student. He initiated and led a movement among young Finnish men to refuse conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
service in the Russian Emperial
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
Army. A rescript of 1900 by Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II of Russia
Nicholas II was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Prince of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church.Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until...
, sovereign of the Grand Duchy of Finland
Grand Duchy of Finland
The Grand Duchy of Finland was the predecessor state of modern Finland. It existed 1809–1917 as part of the Russian Empire and was ruled by the Russian czar as Grand Prince.- History :...
, put Finnish conscripts
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
under the Russian
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
military top. The 'strike' movement forced a withdrawal by 1905.
Alvar Palmgren was the father of the zoologist Pontus Palmgren (born 1907).