Michael Palmer

Chapter Author of "Gradient Analysis of Ecological Communities" and Co-Author of "Spatial Scale and Biodiversity"

December 12, 2019

Mike joined the Botany Department (now PBEE) in 1989 as an assistant professor, after a doctorate from Duke University and a postdoctoral position at North Carolina State University. He retired in 2017 at the rank of regents professor. His teaching included general ecology, multivariate statistics, community ecology and seminars on the history of ecology and biogeography. His research spanned four continents and mostly focussed on the determinants of species richness and the elusive role of spatial scale in biodiversity studies. He used a variety of methods, including a meta-analysis of floristic data, greenhouse microcosms, computer simulations, permanent plot data and field experiments. Particular projects include an analysis of North American floras, development of ordination methods, plant virus biodiversity, communities emerging from seed banks, the flora and vegetation of the Tallgrass Prairie Preserve, the distribution of Costa Rican rain forest trees, analysis of species-area curves, methods for extrapolating biodiversity, applications of fractal geometry, forest dynamics in an old-growth North Carolina forest, succession following catastrophic wind disturbance in Minnesota and several others. He has authored or co-authored 135 peer-reviewed publications. In his retirement, Mike is studying the natural history of insects feeding on native wild plants.

URL: https://library-dep.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2020-honorees/michael-palmer

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