Leslie Holdridge
Encyclopedia
Professor Leslie Ransselaer Holdridge (1907 to 1999) was an American botanist
and climatologist
. He was the son of Samuel Eneas Holdridge and Phebe J. Holmes. And he is the father of the American composer Lee Holdridge
.
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...
and climatologist
Climatology
Climatology is the study of climate, scientifically defined as weather conditions averaged over a period of time, and is a branch of the atmospheric sciences...
. He was the son of Samuel Eneas Holdridge and Phebe J. Holmes. And he is the father of the American composer Lee Holdridge
Lee Holdridge
Lee Holdridge is a Haitian-born American television composer and orchestrator.-Biography:He was born in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, of a Puerto-Rican mother and an American father, the botanist an climatologist Leslie Holdridge...
.
Overview
In his famous 1947 paper, he defined "life zones" using three indicators:- Mean annual biotemperature (average temperature, after data values below 0°C or above 30°C have been eliminated)
- Total annual precipitationPrecipitation (meteorology)In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
- The ratio of mean annual potential evapotranspirationEvapotranspirationEvapotranspiration is a term used to describe the sum of evaporation and plant transpiration from the Earth's land surface to atmosphere. Evaporation accounts for the movement of water to the air from sources such as the soil, canopy interception, and waterbodies...
to mean total annual precipitation.