Stephen Alfred Forbes

Stephen Alfred Forbes (May 29, 1844 – March 13, 1930) was the first chief of the Illinois Natural History Survey, a founder of aquatic ecosystem science and a dominant figure in the rise of American ecology. His publications are striking for their merger of extensive field observations with conceptual insights. Forbes believed that ecological knowledge was fundamental for human well being. Forbes was important to the development of ecological theory. He was acknowledged by the National Academy of Sciences as "the founder of the science of ecology in the United States".

While already famous as an economic entomologist, Forbes undertook studies of massive fish mortality in Lake Mendota, Wisconsin. He showed the connection of algae blooms and lake physics to fish kills, and embarked on a remarkable research program into lake ecology and river ecology. Many of his insights about lake ecology were collected in an influential paper, "The Lake as a Microcosm".

Notable for both conceptual creativity and the use of innovative quantitative methods, his work foreshadowed the ecosystem concept as well as modern ideas of behavioral ecology and food web dynamics. On top of this, Forbes introduced the concept of a "community of interest" that emphasized two major points: "the first that of a general community of interests among all the classes of organic beings here assembled, and the second that of the beneficent power of natural selection which compels such adjustments of the rated of destruction and of multiplication of the various species as shall best promote this common interest."

Forbes's studies of bird predation and the use of fungus to control the chinch bug were pioneering efforts in the study and application of insect diseases for the biological control of insect pests. They were important contributions to the establishment of integrated pest management in the twentieth century.

Forbes showed the importance of local knowledge in the early history of ecology in the United States. Provided by Wikipedia