Plant community ecology: Papers in honor of Robert H. Whittaker

1. Front Matter

   Pages I-VI

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • R. K. Peet

      Pages 1-4

3. Robert H. Whittaker (1920–1980): The man and his work

   1. Robert H. Whittaker (1920–1980): The man and his work

      • W. E. Westman, R. K. Peet

      Pages 5-30

4. Community analysis

   1. New approaches to direct gradient analysis using environmental scalars and statistical curve-fitting procedures

      • M. P. Austin, R. B. Cunningham, P. M. Fleming

      Pages 31-47

   2. An analysis of species response curves and of competition from field data: Some results from heath vegetation

      • L. F. M. Fresco

      Pages 49-57

   3. Species performances and vegetation boundaries along an environmental gradient

      • M. J. A. Werger, J. M. W. Louppen, J. H. M. Eppink

      Pages 59-68

   4. On choosing a resemblance measure for non-linear predictive ordination

      • P. H. Fewster, L. Orlóci

      Pages 69-77

5. Compositional gradients

   1. Xeric Mediterranean-type shrubland associations of Alta and Baja California and the community/continuum debate

      • W. E. Westman

      Pages 79-95

   2. Regional and local variation in tallgrass prairie remnants of Iowa and eastern Nebraska

      • Jon A. White, David C. Glenn-Lewin

      Pages 97-110

   3. Distributions of C4 plants along environmental and compositional gradients in southeastern Arizona

      • T. R. Wentworth

      Pages 111-124

   4. Gradient analysis of the vegetation of the Byron-Bergen swamp, a rich fen in western New York

      • John M. Bernard, Franz K. Seischab, Hugh G. Gauch Jr.

      Pages 125-131

   5. Vegetation patterns related to environmental factors in a Negev Desert watershed

      • L. Olsvig-Whittaker, M. Shachak, A. Yair

      Pages 133-145

6. Community dynamics

   1. Disturbance and vegetation response in relation to environmental gradients in the Great Smoky Mountains

      • M. E. Harmon, S. P. Bratton, P. S. White

      Pages 147-157

   2. Vegetation of the Santa Catalina Mountains: community types and dynamics

      • William A. Niering, Charles H. Lowe

      Pages 159-184

   3. Patterns of tree replacement: canopy effects on understory pattern in hemlock - northern hardwood forests

      • Kerry D. Woods

      Pages 185-205

7. Species diversity

   1. Measuring compositional change along gradients

      • Mark V. Wilson, C. L. Mohler

      Pages 207-219

   2. A new approach to the minimal area of a plant community

      • P. Dietvorst, E. van der Maarel, H. van der Putten

      Pages 221-235

   3. Plant species richness at the 0.1 hectare scale in Australian vegetation compared to other continents

      • B. Rice, M. Westoby

      Pages 237-248

   4. Diversity relations in Cape shrublands and other vegetation in the southeastern Cape, South Africa

      • R. M. Cowling

      Pages 249-273

   5. Coexistence of plant species with similar niches

      • A. Shmida, S. Ellner

      Pages 275-301

R. K. Peet Dep. of Botany, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C. 27514, USA Robert Whittaker's contributions to ecology were many and remarkably varied. His publication record will long stand as a monument to his greatness, and whatever we do to honor him will likely be rather small in comparison. Less well known were his personal interactions and the impact they had on the development of ecology as well as individual scientists. Over the years he touched many of us and we felt not just a professional but also a deep personal loss in his passing. After his death I was contacted by numerous colleagues who wondered what they might do to honor him. Whittaker had long served on the editorial board of Vegetatio, which prompted Eddy van der Maarel to suggest that a series of papers in the journal might be a fitting memorial, and so this project was conceived. Whittaker was a master of synthesis and during his career he published numerous review papers which showed clearly how his work related to and built on that of others. For this reason it seemed inappropriate and redundant to solicit papers reviewing areas to which Whittaker made important contributions. Instead, I chose to solicit research papers illustrating current applications of approaches Whittaker developed and showing a few of the recent advances which have grown directly from his pioneering work.

• Ordination
• ecology
• environment
• species diversity
• vegetation

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