2018年11月18日 星期日

Forrest Shreve (July 8, 1878 – July 19, 1950)


Plants
Barrel Cactus
Brittle Bush
Chainfruit Cholla
Creosote Bush
Crimson Hedgehog Cactus
Desert Ironwood
Joshua Tree
Jumping Cholla
Mojave Aster
Ocotillo
Palo Verde
Pancake Prickly Pear Cactus
Saguaro Cactus
Soaptree Yucca
Triangle-leaf Bursage
http://www.blueplanetbiomes.org/desert_plant_page.htm
張文亮
漠植物的價值
在近代的科學史上,約翰‧霍浦金斯大學史瑞夫(Forrest Shreve,1878-1950)博士,是一個非常有趣的人,他被稱為「普世研究沙漠植物的第一人」。史瑞夫在1908年進入亞歷桑那沙漠,在沙漠四十二年之久,他研究「沙漠植物存在沙漠裡,到底有什麼目的?」他與妻子住在沒有水、沒有電、沒有公路、沒有電話的

話的文明邊緣地,只為瞭解上帝創造沙漠植物的目的。
他幾乎走遍北美洲與中美洲的沙漠,並且進入沙漠古老的地穴裡,他採取地穴裡不同地質年代蕨類的標本,發現早期蕨類葉子的氣孔較大,後來逐漸變小。植物的氣孔愈小代表天氣愈來愈乾燥,植物蒸散水量較低。1919年他提出:「這裡以前長了許多植物,後來氣候改變,才成為沙漠。」。
1928年,他又提出:「沙漠是大自然最具變化的展示場,這裡平常幾乎看不到什麼生命的蹤跡,一下雨,許多的生物都會出來活動。原來,沙漠植物留在沙漠,能保護沙漠殘存的土壤與其他生物。下雨後,沙漠植物就立刻開花、結果。儘管97.5%的種子都不會發芽,但是能夠發芽,就一定能夠成長。」過去多數人認為沙漠植物不能作建材,又不能吃,是沒有用的植物。1940年,史瑞夫卻提出:沙漠植物具有許多功用,如果沒有沙漠植物,沙漠地表溫度將更高。
這位基督徒科學家在沙漠地尋找沙漠植物,熱愛沙漠植物,他長期量測一種沙漠植物saguaro,發現這種植物每300年才能生長30公分,他呼籲世人珍惜這種長不高的植物。
他在晚年時寫下:「我在沙漠裡,所學最重要的一門課是,沙漠裡的植物與動物,不是無法適應外面更好的環境,而被趕來這裡,是喜歡這裡。我愈認識這些生物,才知道,我也可以在這種環境下生存,不失去力量與智慧…研究大自然,真是認識上帝的一部分。」

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Forrest Shreve
Forrest Shreve.jpg
BornJuly 8, 1878
EastonMaryland, U.S.
DiedJuly 19, 1950 (aged 72)
TucsonArizona, U.S.
Alma materJohns Hopkins University
Scientific career
InstitutionsGoucher College
Carnegie Institution for Science
Author abbrev. (botany)F. Shreve
Forrest Shreve (July 8, 1878 – July 19, 1950) was an internationally known American botanist. His professional career was devoted to the study of the distribution of vegetation as determined by soil and climate conditions.[1] His contributions to the plant biology world set the groundwork for modern studies and his books are regarded as classics by botanists worldwide.[2]

Early life and education[edit]

Shreve, the son of Henry and Helen Garrison Shreve, was born in Easton, Maryland.[1] After receiving his preparatory education at George School, in NewtownPennsylvania, Shreve earned his BA at Johns Hopkins University in 1901.[1] He earned his Ph.D. from the same university in 1905. From 1904 to 1908, Shreve conducted a botanical survey of the state of Maryland.

Career[edit]

From 1905 to 1906, and again in 1909, Shreve studied the mountain vegetation of Jamaica. In 1906, he became an associate professor of botany at Goucher College, and remained there until 1908, when he moved to TucsonArizona, to work at the Carnegie Institution of Washington's Desert Library. From 1911 to 1919, Shreve worked as an editor of the botanical scientific journal Plant World. In 1914, Shreve published his book A Montane Rain-forest. In 1915, he helped found the Ecological Society of America, where he served as a secretary-treasurer until 1919, and as president, in 1921. In 1926, Shreve worked as an editor of the book Naturalist's Guide to the Americas. In 1928, Shreve was placed in charge of Desert Investigations of the Carnegie Institution, and in 1932 he began floristics studies on the Sonoran Desert region. He served as vice president of the Association of American Geographers in 1940, and published "The Desert Vegetation of North America" in Botanical Review. He retired in 1946.[3]

Personal life[edit]

His religious affiliation was with the Society of Friends. Politically, he was a Republican. His hobby was collecting and studying stamps. He married Edith Coffin on June 17, 1909 in Florence, AL (aged 30), and had a daughter, Margaret. He died in TucsonArizona in 1950.[1]

Publications[edit]


The Plant Life of Maryland. The Johns Hopkins Press. 1910.
A Montane Rain-forest: A Contribution to the Physiological Plant Geography in Jamaica. Carnegie Institute of Washington. Washington D.C: 1914.[5]
The Vegetation of a Desert Mountain Range as Conditioned by Climatic Factors. Carnegie Institute of Washington. Washington D.C.: 1915.[6]
Naturalist's Guide to the Americas (editor). 1926.
The Cactus and its Home. The Williams & Wilkins company. 1931.
"The Desert Vegetation of North America". The Botanical Review. Vol. 8, No. 4 (Apr., 1942), pp. 195–246.
Vegetation and Flora of the Sonoran Desert (posthumously). Stanford University Press. 1964.

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