Robert T. Paine (zoologist)

Robert T. Paine, PhD, is a zoologist and professor emeritus of the University of Washington, who coined[1] the keystone species concept in order to explain the relationship between Pisaster ochraceus, a species of starfish, and Mytilus californianus, a species of mussel.[2] In his classic 1966 paper, Dr. Robert Paine described such a system in Makah Bay in Washington State.[3] This led to his 1969 paper where he proposed the keystone species concept.[4]

References

  1. ^ "Keystone Species Hypothesis". University of Washington. http://www.washington.edu/research/pathbreakers/1969g.html. Retrieved 2011-02-03. 
  2. ^ Stolzenberg, William (2008). Where the Wild Things Were: Life, death and ecological wreckage in a land of vanishing predators. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 1-59691-299-5. 
  3. ^ Paine, R.T. (1966). "Food Web Complexity and Species Diversity". The American Naturalist 100 (910): 65–75. doi:10.1086/282400. JSTOR 2459379. 
  4. ^ Paine, R.T. (1969). "A Note on Trophic Complexity and Community Stability". The American Naturalist 103 (929): 91–93. doi:10.1086/282586. JSTOR 2459472.