Robert T. Paine (zoologist)

Robert T. Paine
Born(1933-04-13)April 13, 1933
Cambridge, Massachusetts
DiedJune 13, 2016(2016-06-13) (aged 83)
Seattle, Washington
Alma materHarvard University
University of Michigan
Known forkeystone species concept[1]
AwardsSewall Wright Award (1996)
National Academy of Sciences
International Cosmos Prize (2013)
Scientific career
InstitutionsUniversity of Michigan
University of Washington
Harvard University
Scripps Institution of Oceanography
ThesisThe Life History and Population Dynamics of Glottidia Pyramidata (Brachiopoda) (1961)
Doctoral studentsPaul Dayton[1]
Bruce Menge[1]
Jane Lubchenco[1]
Anne Salomon
Websitewww.biology.washington.edu/users/robert-t-paine

Robert Treat "Bob" Paine III (April 13, 1933 – June 13, 2016) was an American ecologist who spent most of his career at the University of Washington. Paine coined the keystone species[1][2][3] concept to explain the relationship between Pisaster ochraceus, a species of starfish, and Mytilus californianus, a species of mussel.[4]

  1. ^ a b c d e Yong, E. (2013). "Scientific families: Dynasty. Bob Paine fathered an idea — and an academic family — that changed ecology". Nature. 493 (7432): 286–289. doi:10.1038/493286a. PMID 23325190.
  2. ^ "Keystone Species Hypothesis". University of Washington. Archived from the original on 2011-01-10. Retrieved 2011-02-03.
  3. ^ "Scientists Adopt Tiny Island as a Warming Bellwether". New York Times. 6 Oct 2012. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  4. ^ Stolzenberg, William (2008). Where the Wild Things Were: Life, death and ecological wreckage in a land of vanishing predators. Bloomsbury USA. ISBN 978-1-59691-299-1.