William W. Murdoch
Encyclopedia
Recipient of the 1990 Robert H. MacArthur Award
granted by the Ecological Society of America
, William W. Murdoch (born 1939) is a Charles A. Storke II professor of population ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara
. Over the years, his research has focused primarily on the subjects of population regulation, predator-prey dynamics, and biological control. He has also contributed extensively to understanding the scientific and socioeconomic ramifications caused by human overpopulation
and environmental degradation.
. After graduation, he headed to the University of Oxford
to study insect population dynamics at the Bureau of Animal Population under Charles Sutherland Elton
. Upon obtaining his doctorate in population ecology, Murdoch won a Guggenheim Fellowship
that allowed him to undertake postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and University College London
. Murdoch has also been a McMaster Fellow in Australia, a Miller Research Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, director of the University of California Natural Reserve System, and editor in chief of the journal Issues in Ecology.
and the California red scale
has elucidated that stability does not arise from metapopulation
dynamics and that the regulating mechanism may, instead, lie in size-related interactions, in small-scale spatial heterogeneity, or mixtures of these mechanisms.
In The Poverty of Nations: the Political Economy of Hunger and Population, Murdoch concludes that populations are irresponsibly expanding in a finite world and that this has put the planet at risk of exhausting its resources and of destroying its fundamental life support systems. The great challenge ahead, he notes, will be to make possible the control of population
size and growth. A bottom-up approach, nonetheless, will be required to ensure success in this task. Profound changes to the sociopolitical infrastructure of the less developed countries must be achieved, with joint cooperation from the developed world, to guarantee that high fertility is no longer the inevitable outcome of the conditions in which people live in poor nations.
Environment
In Environment, William W. Murdoch synthesizes a collection of environmental studies aimed at instructing new generations of ecology students. He was prompted to work on the subject by an over accumulation of data that resulted from the public’s growing interest on environmental problems of the day. The scope of his study focuses primarily on the interplay of science, technology, human values, and institutions that make environmental science not only fascinating, but also relevant to the evolving sociopolitical dynamics of our world. This 1975 book demonstrates how Murdoch’s general theories on population ecology
and environmental science
were starting to shape up and presents an opportunity for comparison to later works and perspectives.
Murdoch, W. W. 1994. Population regulation in theory and practice. Ecology 75: 271-287.http://artifex.org/~ecoreaders/lit/Murdoch1994.pdf
Murdoch, W. W., Luck, R.F., Swarbrick, S.L., Walde, S., Yu, D.S., and Reeve, J.D. 1995. Regulation of an insect population under biological control. Ecology 76: 206-217. http://www.jstor.org/pss/2265696
Murdoch, W. W. and Briggs, C.J. 1996. Theory for biological control: Recent developments. Ecology 77: 2001-2013.http://www.esa.org/history/papers/Murdoch_WW_MA.pdf
Murdoch, W. W., Briggs, C.J., and Swarbrick, S.L. 2005. Host suppression and stability in a parasitoid-host system: experimental demonstration. Science 309: 610-613.http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/309/5734/610
Robert H. MacArthur Award
The Robert H. MacArthur Award is given biannually by the Ecological Society of America to an established ecologist in mid-career for meritorious contributions to ecology, in the expectation of continued outstanding ecological research...
granted by the Ecological Society of America
Ecological Society of America
The Ecological Society of America is a professional organization of ecological scientists. Based in the United States, ESA publishes a suite of publications, from peer-reviewed journals to newsletters, fact sheets and teaching resources. It holds an annual meeting at different locations in the...
, William W. Murdoch (born 1939) is a Charles A. Storke II professor of population ecology at the University of California, Santa Barbara
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara, commonly known as UCSB or UC Santa Barbara, is a public research university and one of the 10 general campuses of the University of California system. The main campus is located on a site in Goleta, California, from Santa Barbara and northwest of Los...
. Over the years, his research has focused primarily on the subjects of population regulation, predator-prey dynamics, and biological control. He has also contributed extensively to understanding the scientific and socioeconomic ramifications caused by human overpopulation
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
and environmental degradation.
Education
William W. Murdoch received his bachelor's of science degree in zoology (with honors) at the University of GlasgowUniversity of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
. After graduation, he headed to the University of Oxford
University of Oxford
The University of Oxford is a university located in Oxford, United Kingdom. It is the second-oldest surviving university in the world and the oldest in the English-speaking world. Although its exact date of foundation is unclear, there is evidence of teaching as far back as 1096...
to study insect population dynamics at the Bureau of Animal Population under Charles Sutherland 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:...
. Upon obtaining his doctorate in population ecology, Murdoch won a Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are American grants that have been awarded annually since 1925 by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation to those "who have demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative ability in the arts." Each year, the foundation makes...
that allowed him to undertake postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor.
Professional Appointments
In 1965, Murdoch joined the faculty of the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he has conducted research until the present. He has held visiting professorships at various universities around the world including the University of California, BerkeleyUniversity of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, the University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, and University College London
University College London
University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...
. Murdoch has also been a McMaster Fellow in Australia, a Miller Research Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, director of the University of California Natural Reserve System, and editor in chief of the journal Issues in Ecology.
Research
Murdoch's main research studies focus on understanding what regulates populations in abundance. He is interested in the mechanisms that maintain the stability of interacting consumer and resource populations when the consumer keeps the resource population far below the level set by its resources. His research objective is to develop models of particular systems, do experiments to understand these systems and test these models, as well as to develop more general theory. Two experimental systems are used in Murdoch's research: the Aphytis-California Red Scale and daphnia-algae systems. Murdoch's work in biological control has been instrumental in demonstrating that stability of parasitoid-host interactions in pest control can be achieved by non-equilibrium mechanisms. For example, his examination of the parasitoid-host relationship between AphytisAphytis (insect)
Aphytis is a genus of chalcid wasp in the Aphelinidae family. Members of this genus are very small averaging two to three millimetres in length and are mostly black or yellow with transparent wings. The larvae are parasitic on other insects...
and the California red scale
Aonidiella aurantii
Aonidiella aurantii or red scale is an armoured scale insect and a major pest of citrus. It is thought to be a native of South China but has been widely dispersed by the agency of man through the movement of infected plant material. In the USA it is known as California red scale...
has elucidated that stability does not arise from metapopulation
Metapopulation
A metapopulation consists of a group of spatially separated populations of the same species which interact at some level. The term metapopulation was coined by Richard Levins in 1970 to describe a model of population dynamics of insect pests in agricultural fields, but the idea has been most...
dynamics and that the regulating mechanism may, instead, lie in size-related interactions, in small-scale spatial heterogeneity, or mixtures of these mechanisms.
Selected Books
Poverty of NationsIn The Poverty of Nations: the Political Economy of Hunger and Population, Murdoch concludes that populations are irresponsibly expanding in a finite world and that this has put the planet at risk of exhausting its resources and of destroying its fundamental life support systems. The great challenge ahead, he notes, will be to make possible the control of population
Population
A population is all the organisms that both belong to the same group or species and live in the same geographical area. The area that is used to define a sexual population is such that inter-breeding is possible between any pair within the area and more probable than cross-breeding with individuals...
size and growth. A bottom-up approach, nonetheless, will be required to ensure success in this task. Profound changes to the sociopolitical infrastructure of the less developed countries must be achieved, with joint cooperation from the developed world, to guarantee that high fertility is no longer the inevitable outcome of the conditions in which people live in poor nations.
Environment
In Environment, William W. Murdoch synthesizes a collection of environmental studies aimed at instructing new generations of ecology students. He was prompted to work on the subject by an over accumulation of data that resulted from the public’s growing interest on environmental problems of the day. The scope of his study focuses primarily on the interplay of science, technology, human values, and institutions that make environmental science not only fascinating, but also relevant to the evolving sociopolitical dynamics of our world. This 1975 book demonstrates how Murdoch’s general theories on population ecology
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 environmental science
Environmental science
Environmental science is an interdisciplinary academic field that integrates physical and biological sciences, to the study of the environment, and the solution of environmental problems...
were starting to shape up and presents an opportunity for comparison to later works and perspectives.
Selected Articles
Murdoch, W.W., Chesson, J., and Chesson, P.L. 1985. Biological control in theory and practice. The American Naturalist 125: 344-366. http://eebweb.arizona.edu/Faculty/chesson/Peter/Reprints/1985_Biological%20control%20in%20theory%20and%20practice.pdfMurdoch, W. W. 1994. Population regulation in theory and practice. Ecology 75: 271-287.http://artifex.org/~ecoreaders/lit/Murdoch1994.pdf
Murdoch, W. W., Luck, R.F., Swarbrick, S.L., Walde, S., Yu, D.S., and Reeve, J.D. 1995. Regulation of an insect population under biological control. Ecology 76: 206-217. http://www.jstor.org/pss/2265696
Murdoch, W. W. and Briggs, C.J. 1996. Theory for biological control: Recent developments. Ecology 77: 2001-2013.http://www.esa.org/history/papers/Murdoch_WW_MA.pdf
Murdoch, W. W., Briggs, C.J., and Swarbrick, S.L. 2005. Host suppression and stability in a parasitoid-host system: experimental demonstration. Science 309: 610-613.http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/abstract/309/5734/610
Awards and honors
| Award | Granting Institution |
| Guggenheim Fellowship | J. S. Guggenheim Memorial Foundation |
| President’s Award | American Society of Naturalists |
| R. H. MacArthur Award | Ecological Society of America |
| Huffaker Medal in Population Biology | UC Berkeley |
| AAAS Fellow | American Academy of Arts and Sciences |
| Highly Cited Researcher | Institute for Scientific Information |
| Faculty Research Lecturer | UC Santa Barbara |
| Distinguished Scientist Award | International Organization for Biological Control |