Ragnar Hult

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Ragnar Hult (1857-1899) was a Finnish botanist and plant geographer. He was a forerunner in developing a methodology for vegetation survey. He emphasized the physiognomy of vegetation and paid less attention to its ecology. His ideas were much-followed in Sweden, making him the real father of the "Uppsala school" in plant sociology[1].

Ragnar Hult was the first (1881) to publish a comprehensive study of ecological succession as it is taking place in a given region. He was the first to recognize that a relatively large number of pioneer plant communities give way to a comparatively small number of relatively stable communities[2].

The standard author abbreviation Hult is used to indicate this individual as the author when citing a botanical name.[3]

[edit] Selected works

Hult, Ragnar (1881) Försök till analytisk behandling af växtformationerna (Attempt at an analytic treatment of plant communities). Meddelanden af Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica; 8: 1-155. Doctoral dissertation: Helsingin Yliopisto.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Trass, H. & N. Malmer, 1978. North European approaches to classification. Pages 201-245 in R. H. Whittaker (ed.). Classification of plant communities. Dr. W. Junk Publ., den Haag.
  2. ^ Cowles, Henry C. (1911) The causes of vegetational cycles. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1 (1): 3-20 [1]
  3. ^ Brummitt, R. K.; C. E. Powell (1992). Authors of Plant Names. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. ISBN 1-84246-085-4.