biology

Richard B. Root

Richard B. Root is a biology topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Richard B. Root rather than just read about it. In short: Richard Bruce "Dick" Root (7 September 1936 – 22 January 2013) was a professor of evolutionary biology, ecology and entomology. He was an important contributor to the field of ecology, and is best known for introducing the concept of the ecological “guild”.

Key takeaways

Richard B. Root belongs to biology; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Richard B. Root to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Richard B. Root from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Richard Bruce "Dick" Root (7 September 1936 – 22 January 2013) was a professor of evolutionary biology, ecology and entomology. He was an important contributor to the field of ecology, and is best known for introducing the concept of the ecological “guild”. This concept is found in his doctoral research paper focused on defining the ecological niche and comparing the niche dimensions of the blue-grey gnatcatcher with other insectivorous bird species.

Research career Root completed his undergraduate and honours degrees at the University of Michigan, before moving to University of California, Berkeley to complete his PhD research. Root's first scientific article was published in 1960, based on his honours research on flatworm demography. His doctoral thesis, titled “Niche organization in the Blue-gray Gnatcatcher (Polioptila caerulea)”, was completed in 1964 and later published in Ecological Monographs in 1967. The concept of ecological guilds established in this paper has become a highly influential in ecology. His research later shifted focus from insectivorous birds to focusing on the insects themselves (Cornell University memorials 2013). His research in later years concentrated mostly on trends in the traits, functions, and affinities of the arthropods associated with goldenrods (especially tall goldenrod, Solidago altissima). By 2003, Root had supervised 33 Ph.D. students and 4 master's students, who sometimes described themselves as "Rootlets". In the final seven years of his life, Root experienced a gradual decline in his mental and physical abilities due to a degenerative disease, but continued to be involved in science, visiting Cornell University regularly, attending lunch meetings and visiting field sites. He died on January 22, 2013, and was survived by his wife Barbara, two children and two stepchildren through his marriage to Barbara.

Awards and honours In 1962, while a graduate student, Root won the A. Brazier Howell Award of the Cooper Ornithological Society. Throughout his career, he received many prestigious awards, including the Eminent Ecologist Award (2003) and Eugene P. Odum Award (2004), both presented by the Ecological Society of America. In 2003, he received the Edgerton Career Teaching Award from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Cornell University. He was an inaugural Fellow of the Ecological Society of America.

References

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Richard B. Root

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Richard B. Root claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In biology, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Richard B. Root before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Richard B. Root ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Richard B. Root

In research: Richard B. Root appears in biology research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Richard B. Root in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Richard B. Root is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1936 births, 2013 deaths, American biologists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Richard B. Root outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Richard B. Root in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Richard B. Root means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Richard B. Root out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Richard B. Root in simple terms?

Why does Richard B. Root matter?

Because it connects several biology ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Richard B. Root?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Richard B. Root.