The ecosystem approach: its use and abuse

Gene E. Likens

Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Box AB, Route 44A, Millbrook, NY 12545-0129, USA

Recipient of the International Ecology Institute (ECI) Prize 1988 in freshwater ecology

About the book

EE Book 3 benefits from Gene Likens' unique long-term expertise on ecosystem functions and structures. The author elucidates, with a keen sense of critical, systematic inquiry and ethical responsibility, the instrumentarium of modern ecological research. He explains and documents what it can do. And he outlines what, in his opinion, must be done to avoid or reduce anthropogenic damage to our planet.

About the author

Professor Gene Elden Likens was elected by the ECI Jury chaired by Professor William D. Williams (University of Adelaide, Australia), primarily for his comprehensive long-term studies of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem (New Hampshire, USA) which provided a model for ecological and biogeochemical studies worldwide. Gene Likens was born in Pierceton, Indiana (USA) in 1935. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and then taught at Dartmouth College and Cornell University; he is Vice President of the New York Botanical Garden, and Professor at Cornell, Yale and Rutgers Universities. Gene Likens has also been elected to the American Academy of Sciences in 1979, and the National Academy of Sciences in 1981. He is the recipient of 5 honorary doctorates and of the National Medal of Science Award 2001, the highest scientific honor in the USA.