Paul Gordon Jarvis. 23 May 1935—5 February 2013

Abstract

Paul Gordon Jarvis was a widely known and well-respected plant ecologist and physiologist, who pioneered the scientific analysis of the exchange of water and carbon dioxide between forests and the atmosphere, and laid the foundations for decades of study on the interplay between forests and the climate system. He was one of the first to measure directly the photosynthesis and transpiration of forests, and leading from this, his analysis of the relationships between the physiology of plants and the weather has informed and inspired a generation of young scientists. In particular, he was one of the first to address the linkage between knowledge gained at the microscopic scale of stomata and the landscape scale of forests, and the implications of that linkage for the climate system.