Charles Sutherland Elton
Encyclopedia
Charles Sutherland Elton FRS
(29 March 1900 – 1 May 1991) 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
.
as son of the literary scholar Oliver Elton
and children's writer Letitia Maynard Elton (née MacColl). He had one older brother, Geoffrey Elton. Charles Elton makes a strong point to attribute his interest of scientific natural history to his brother Geoffrey in many of his writings. Geoffrey died at the age of 33. Charles Elton married the British poet Edith Joy Scovell in 1937, they had two children.
in 1922, and where he subsequently had his entire academic career. Elton's professional goal was to turn natural history
into the science of ecology
by applying the scientific method to study the lives of animal
s in their natural habitat
s and their interactions with the environment. In 1921, while still an undergraduate, he was assistant to Julian Huxley
on an expedition to Spitsbergen
. Here, he made an ecological survey of Arctic
vertebrates, a project he continued on three subsequent Arctic expeditions in 1923, 1924, and 1930. His Arctic
experience led to a consultancy with the Hudson's Bay Company, 1926–1931, which enabled him to study fluctuations in the populations of animal species of interest to the fur trade
. Later, he undertook similar studies on British
mouse
and vole
populations.
Elton's early career was strongly influenced by Alexander Carr-Saunders
, Victor Ernest Shelford
and Gordon Hewitt. In 1922 Alexander Carr-Saunders wrote The Population Problem: A Study of Human Evolution where he outlines the influence of overpopulation in humans having cascading effects on plant and animal life around the world. Elton later applied these ideas of population fluctuations to animals. Victor Ernest Shelford
wrote Animal Communities in Temperate America in 1913, where he outlines three main principles of ecology, (a) emphasizing the importance of studying the physiology of the organism, rather than the physiology of a specific organ; (b) evaluating the “phenomena of behavior and physiology” in relation to the natural environments; and (c) relating the ecology of plant life to that of animal life. From Gordon Hewitt's 1921 book The Conservation of the Wildlife of Canada, Elton noticed the Canadian Lynx and Snowshoe Hare
population cycles, and developed a greater understanding of population fluctuations in Arctic vertebrates with the Hudson's Bay Company
.
In 1932, Elton established the Bureau of Animal Population at Oxford
, which became a center for the collection of data on fluctuations in animal population
s. In the same year, the Journal of Animal Ecology
was founded and Elton became its first editor. In 1936, he was appointed reader in animal ecology
at the Oxford University and Corpus Christi College
elected him a senior research fellow. During the Second World War the Bureau of Animal Population was given the task to find efficient methods for the control of rats, mice and rabbits by the Agricultural Research Council. After the Second World War, Elton started a 20-year survey of animals and their interrelationships
on Oxford University's Wytham
estate, including animals in meadows, woods and water. After his retirement, he did some studies in tropical
America. He held a great interest in nature conservation and problems in management of nature reserves and he was instrumental in establishing the Nature Conservancy Council
in 1949.
He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1953 and received the society’s Darwin Medal
in 1970.
studies of animal behaviour
and life history
, such as food chain
s, the size of food items, the ecological niche
and the concept of a pyramid of numbers as a method of representing the structure of an ecosystem
in terms of feeding relationships.
In later works on the niche theory
, Elton’s definition – the Eltonian niche
– in terms of functional attributes of organisms (or its position in the trophic net), has been viewed by some authors as opposed to Joseph Grinnell
’s earlier definition emphasizing states of the environment suitable for the species. However, others have argued that there are more similarities than dissimilarities between the two versions of the niche
concept.
After the Second World War, Elton became much more concerned with the impact of invasive species
on natural ecosystem
s. His 1958 book The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants founded invasion ecology as a separate sub-discipline. The first part of the book focuses on the invader species and their mode of transport into the new environment. The second part of the book focuses on the struggle between invasive species
and the indigenous, though some invaders enter habitats with no prior species filling their specific niche. The final part of The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants deals with the issue of conservation and its importance in order to maintain species diversity.
FRS
-Education:* Frontier Regional School, a regional school located in South Deerfield, Massachusetts-Government:*FRS 567 states that, an accountant shall perfom his/ her duty with due care...
(29 March 1900 – 1 May 1991) was an English
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
zoologist
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
and animal ecologist
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
. His name is associated with the establishment of modern population
Population ecology
Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment. It is the study of how the population sizes of species living together in groups change over time and space....
and community ecology, including studies of invasive organisms
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
.
Personal life
Charles Sutherland Elton was born in ManchesterManchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
as son of the literary scholar Oliver Elton
Oliver Elton
Oliver Elton was an English literary scholar whose works include A Survey of English Literature in six volumes, criticism, biography, and translations from several languages including Icelandic and Russian...
and children's writer Letitia Maynard Elton (née MacColl). He had one older brother, Geoffrey Elton. Charles Elton makes a strong point to attribute his interest of scientific natural history to his brother Geoffrey in many of his writings. Geoffrey died at the age of 33. Charles Elton married the British poet Edith Joy Scovell in 1937, they had two children.
Professional life
Charles Elton was educated at Liverpool College and Oxford University, from which he graduated in zoologyZoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...
in 1922, and where he subsequently had his entire academic career. Elton's professional goal was to turn natural history
Natural history
Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...
into the science of ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
by applying the scientific method to study the lives of animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
s in their natural habitat
Habitat
* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...
s and their interactions with the environment. In 1921, while still an undergraduate, he was assistant to Julian Huxley
Julian Huxley
Sir Julian Sorell Huxley FRS was an English evolutionary biologist, humanist and internationalist. He was a proponent of natural selection, and a leading figure in the mid-twentieth century evolutionary synthesis...
on an expedition to Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen is the largest and only permanently populated island of the Svalbard archipelago in Norway. Constituting the western-most bulk of the archipelago, it borders the Arctic Ocean, the Norwegian Sea and the Greenland Sea...
. Here, he made an ecological survey of Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
vertebrates, a project he continued on three subsequent Arctic expeditions in 1923, 1924, and 1930. His Arctic
Arctic
The Arctic is a region located at the northern-most part of the Earth. The Arctic consists of the Arctic Ocean and parts of Canada, Russia, Greenland, the United States, Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Iceland. The Arctic region consists of a vast, ice-covered ocean, surrounded by treeless permafrost...
experience led to a consultancy with the Hudson's Bay Company, 1926–1931, which enabled him to study fluctuations in the populations of animal species of interest to the fur trade
Fur trade
The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of world market for in the early modern period furs of boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals have been the most valued...
. Later, he undertook similar studies on British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
mouse
Mouse
A mouse is a small mammal belonging to the order of rodents. The best known mouse species is the common house mouse . It is also a popular pet. In some places, certain kinds of field mice are also common. This rodent is eaten by large birds such as hawks and eagles...
and vole
Vole
A vole is a small rodent resembling a mouse but with a stouter body, a shorter hairy tail, a slightly rounder head, smaller ears and eyes, and differently formed molars . There are approximately 155 species of voles. They are sometimes known as meadow mice or field mice in North America...
populations.
Elton's early career was strongly influenced by Alexander Carr-Saunders
Alexander Carr-Saunders
Sir Alexander Morris Carr-Saunders, KBE, FBA was an English biologist and sociologist.Carr-Saunders was born in Reigate, Surrey and educated at Eton and Magdalen College, Oxford where he gained a 1st in zoology in 1908...
, Victor Ernest Shelford
Victor Ernest Shelford
Victor Ernest Shelford was an American zoologist and animal ecologist who helped to establish ecology as a distinct field of study.-Background and education:...
and Gordon Hewitt. In 1922 Alexander Carr-Saunders wrote The Population Problem: A Study of Human Evolution where he outlines the influence of overpopulation in humans having cascading effects on plant and animal life around the world. Elton later applied these ideas of population fluctuations to animals. Victor Ernest Shelford
Victor Ernest Shelford
Victor Ernest Shelford was an American zoologist and animal ecologist who helped to establish ecology as a distinct field of study.-Background and education:...
wrote Animal Communities in Temperate America in 1913, where he outlines three main principles of ecology, (a) emphasizing the importance of studying the physiology of the organism, rather than the physiology of a specific organ; (b) evaluating the “phenomena of behavior and physiology” in relation to the natural environments; and (c) relating the ecology of plant life to that of animal life. From Gordon Hewitt's 1921 book The Conservation of the Wildlife of Canada, Elton noticed the Canadian Lynx and Snowshoe Hare
Snowshoe Hare
The Snowshoe Hare , also called the Varying Hare, or Snowshoe Rabbit, is a species of hare found in North America. It has the name "snowshoe" because of the large size of its hind feet and the marks its tail leaves. The animal's feet prevent it from sinking into the snow when it hops and walks...
population cycles, and developed a greater understanding of population fluctuations in Arctic vertebrates with the Hudson's Bay Company
Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, or "The Bay" is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and one of the oldest in the world. A fur trading business for much of its existence, today Hudson's Bay Company owns and operates retail stores throughout Canada...
.
In 1932, Elton established the Bureau of Animal Population at Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, which became a center for the collection of data on fluctuations in animal population
Population ecology
Population ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment. It is the study of how the population sizes of species living together in groups change over time and space....
s. In the same year, the Journal of Animal Ecology
Journal of Animal Ecology
The Journal of Animal Ecology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing research in all areas of animal ecology. It began publication in 1932, and as such is the second oldest journal of the British Ecological Society...
was founded and Elton became its first editor. In 1936, he was appointed reader in animal ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
at the Oxford University and Corpus Christi College
Corpus Christi College, Oxford
Corpus Christi College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom...
elected him a senior research fellow. During the Second World War the Bureau of Animal Population was given the task to find efficient methods for the control of rats, mice and rabbits by the Agricultural Research Council. After the Second World War, Elton started a 20-year survey of animals and their interrelationships
Biological interaction
Biological interactions are the effects organisms in a community have on one another. In the natural world no organism exists in absolute isolation, and thus every organism must interact with the environment and other organisms...
on Oxford University's Wytham
Wytham
Wytham is a village and civil parish on Seacourt Stream, a branch of the River Thames, about northwest of Oxford. It is just west of the Western By-Pass Road, part of the Oxford Ring Road ....
estate, including animals in meadows, woods and water. After his retirement, he did some studies in tropical
Tropics
The tropics is a region of the Earth surrounding the Equator. It is limited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the northern hemisphere at approximately N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the southern hemisphere at S; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth...
America. He held a great interest in nature conservation and problems in management of nature reserves and he was instrumental in establishing the Nature Conservancy Council
Nature Conservancy Council
The Nature Conservancy Council was a United Kingdom government agency responsible for designating and managing National Nature Reserves and other nature conservation areas in Great Britain between 1973 and 1991 ....
in 1949.
He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1953 and received the society’s Darwin Medal
Darwin Medal
The Darwin Medal is awarded by the Royal Society every alternate year for "work of acknowledged distinction in the broad area of biology in which Charles Darwin worked, notably in evolution, population biology, organismal biology and biological diversity". First awarded in 1890, it was created in...
in 1970.
Intellectual heritage
In 1927, Elton published his now classic book Animal Ecology. This book outlines the important principles of ecologicalEcology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
studies of animal behaviour
Animal behaviour
Animal behaviour is the subject of:* The field of Ethology* Animal Behaviour, a scientific journal...
and life history
Biological life cycle
A life cycle is a period involving all different generations of a species succeeding each other through means of reproduction, whether through asexual reproduction or sexual reproduction...
, such as food chain
Food chain
A food web depicts feeding connections in an ecological community. Ecologists can broadly lump all life forms into one of two categories called trophic levels: 1) the autotrophs, and 2) the heterotrophs...
s, the size of food items, the ecological niche
Ecological niche
In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin could potentially be in another ecological niche from one that travels in a different pod if the members of these pods utilize significantly different food...
and the concept of a pyramid of numbers as a method of representing the structure of an ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
in terms of feeding relationships.
In later works on the niche theory
Ecological niche
In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin could potentially be in another ecological niche from one that travels in a different pod if the members of these pods utilize significantly different food...
, Elton’s definition – the Eltonian niche
Eltonian niche
The term Eltonian Niche refers to a definition of the ecological niche concept that emphasizes the functional attributes of animals and their corresponding trophic position. This was the definition Eugene Odum popularized in his analogy of the niche of a species with its profession in the ecosystem...
– in terms of functional attributes of organisms (or its position in the trophic net), has been viewed by some authors as opposed to Joseph Grinnell
Joseph Grinnell
Joseph Grinnell was a field biologist and zoologist. He made extensive studies of the fauna of California, and is credited with introducing a method of recording precise field observations known as the Grinnell System...
’s earlier definition emphasizing states of the environment suitable for the species. However, others have argued that there are more similarities than dissimilarities between the two versions of the niche
Ecological niche
In ecology, a niche is a term describing the relational position of a species or population in its ecosystem to each other; e.g. a dolphin could potentially be in another ecological niche from one that travels in a different pod if the members of these pods utilize significantly different food...
concept.
After the Second World War, Elton became much more concerned with the impact of invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
on natural ecosystem
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
s. His 1958 book The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants founded invasion ecology as a separate sub-discipline. The first part of the book focuses on the invader species and their mode of transport into the new environment. The second part of the book focuses on the struggle between invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
and the indigenous, though some invaders enter habitats with no prior species filling their specific niche. The final part of The Ecology of Invasions by Animals and Plants deals with the issue of conservation and its importance in order to maintain species diversity.
External links
- Charles Sutherland Elton - English Ecologist
- Elton's Ecologists: A History of the Bureau of Animal Population
- Fifty years of invasion ecology – the legacy of Charles Elton, Special Issue from Diversity and Distribution, Published March 2008.
- Fifty years of invasion ecology – the legacy of Charles Elton, Symposium 12–14 November 2008, hosted by DST-NRF Centre of Excellence for Invasion Biology, Stellenbosch University, South Africa.