Ragnar Hult

Ragnar Hult (1857-1899) was a Finnish botanist and plant geographer. He was a forerunner in developing a methodology for vegetation survey. He emphasized the physiognomy of vegetation and paid less attention to its ecology. His ideas were much-followed in Sweden, making him the real father of the "Uppsala school" in plant sociology [Trass, H. & N. Malmer, 1978. "North European approaches to classification". Pages 201-245 in R. H. Whittaker (ed.). Classification of plant communities. Dr. W. Junk Publ., den Haag.] .

Ragnar Hult was the first (1881) to publish a comprehensive study of ecological succession as it is taking place in a given region. He was the first to recognize that a relatively large number of pioneer plant communities give way to a comparatively small number of relatively stable communities [Cowles, Henry C. (1911) The causes of vegetational cycles. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 1 (1): 3-20 [http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/2560843] ] .

elected works

Hult, Ragnar (1881) Försök till analytisk behandling af växtformationerna ("Attempt at an analytic treatment of plant communities"). Meddelanden af Societas pro Fauna et Flora Fennica; 8: 1-155. Doctoral dissertation: Helsingin Yliopisto.

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