Peter White is a plant ecologist with
interests in communities, floristics, biogeography, species richness,
conservation biology and disturbance and patch dynamics. In vegetation
science he is interested in the composition and dynamics of plant
communities, the relationship between vegetation and landscape, and role of
disturbance, and the ecology of individual species in a dynamic setting. In
conservation biology he is interested in the distribution and biology of rare
species, the design and management of nature reserves and alien species
invasions.
Peter White is an Editor of the Journal of
Vegetation Science and Applied Vegetation Science and serves on the North
Carolina Plant Conservation Board and the Boards of the Center for Plant
Conservation and the Highlands Biological Station. He is Chair of Discover
Life in America and co-chair of the Science Committee for the All Taxa
Biodiversity Inventory in Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Peter White directs the University's North
Carolina Botanical Garden, a garden which is helping to define the Conservation
Garden. The Garden became one of the first gardens to enact policies aimed at
diminishing the risk of release of exotic pest organisms in 1998 and was
presented with a Program Excellence Award in 2004 by the American Association
of Botanical Gardens and Arboreta.
PUBLICATIONS
An on-line bibliography of
Peter White's works is available through the John N. Couch Biology Library of
the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Disturbance, patch dynamics, scale
White, P. S., and A. Jentsch. 2005. Developing
multipatch environmental ethics: the paradigm of flux and the challenge of a
patch dynamic world. Silva Carelica 49:93-106.
White, P. S. (in press). Disturbance, the flux
of nature, and environmental ethics at the multipatch scale. In D. Lodge and
C. Hamlin (eds.), Religion and the New Ecology: Environmental Prudence in a
World in Flux. University of Notre Dame Press.
White, P. S., and A. Jentsch. 2004.
Disturbance, succession, and community assembly in terrestrial plant
communities. Pages 342-366 in V. Temperton, R. Hobbs, T. Nuttle, and S. Halle
(eds.)., Assembly Rules and Restoration Ecology. Island Press, California.
Jentsch, A., C. Beierkuhnlein, and P. S.
White. 2002. Scale, the dynamic stability of forest ecosystems, and the
persistence of biodiversity Silva Fennica 36:1-8.
White, P. S., and A. Jentsch. 2001. The search
for generality in studies of disturbance and ecosystem dynamics. Progress in
Botany 62:399-450.
Wilds, S. P., and P.S. White. 2001. Dynamic
terrestrial ecosystem patterns and processes. Pages 338-351 in: M. E. Jensen
and P. S. Bourgeron (eds.), A guidebook for integrated ecological assessment
. New York: Springer-Verlag.
White, P. S., J. Harrod J, J. L.Walker, and A.
Jentsch. 2000. Disturbance, scale, and boundary in wilderness management.
USDA Forest Service Proceedings RMRS-P-15 2:27-42.
White, P. S., J. Harrod, W. Romme, and J.
Betancourt. 1999. The role of disturbance and temporal dynamics. Volume 2:
281-312 in Ecological Stewardship (R. C. Szaro, N. C. Johnson, W. T. Sexton,
and A. J. Malk (eds.). Oxford: Elsevier Science.
Busing, R. T., and P. S. White. 1997. Species
diversity and small-scale disturbance in an old-growth temperate forest: a
consideration of gap partitioning concepts. Oikos 78:562-568.
White, P. S., and J. Harrod. 1997. Disturbance
and diversity in a landscape context. Pages 128-159 in: Wildlife and
landscapes (Bissonette, J., ed.). New York: Springer-Verlag.
White, P. S. 1994. Synthesis: vegetation
pattern and process in the Everglades ecosystem. In: Davis S, Ogden J (eds.)
Everglades: the ecosystem and its restoration. St. Lucia Press, Chapter 18:
445-460.
DeAngelis, D. L., and P. S. White 1994.
Ecosystems as products of spatially and temporally varying driving forces,
ecological processes, and landscapes--a theoretical perspective. Chapter 2,
pages 9-28, in S. Davis and J. Ogden (eds.), Everglades: the ecosystem and
its restoration. St. Lucia Press.
Busing, R. T., and P. S. White. 1993. Effects
of area on old-growth forest attributes: implications for the equilibrium
landscape concept. Landscape Ecology 8:119-126.
Busing, R. T., E. E. C. Clebsch, and P. S.
White. 1993. Biomass and production of southern Appalachian cove forests
reexamined. Can. J. For. Res. 23:760-765.
Canham, C. D., J. S. Denslow, W. J. Platt, J.
R. Runkle, T. A. Spies, and P. S. White. 1990. Light regimes beneath closed
canopies and treefall gaps in temperate and tropical forests. Can. J. For.
Res. 20:620-
White, P. S. 1987. Natural disturbance, patch
dynamics, and landscape pattern in natural areas. Natural Areas J 7(1):14-22
Pickett, S. T. A., and P. S. White (eds.)
1985. The ecology of natural disturbance and patch dynamics. Academic Press,
New York, pp 3-13.
White, P. S., M. D.MacKenzie, and R. T.
Busing. 1985. A critique of overstory/understory comparisons based on
transition probability analysis of an old growth spruce-fir stand in the
Appalachians. Vegetatio 64:37-45
White, P. S., M. D. MacKenzie, and R. T.
Busing. 1985. Natural disturbance and gap phase dynamics in southern
Appalachian spruce-fir. Can. J. For. Res. 15:233-240.
Harmon, M. E., S. P. Bratton, and P. S. White.
1983. Disturbance and vegetation response in relation to environmental
gradients in the Great Smoky Mountains. Vegetatio 55:129-139.
White, P. S. 1979. Pattern, process, and
natural disturbance in vegetation. Bot Rev 45:229-299
Conservation, restoration
Collins, B., P. S. White, and D. W. Imm. 2001.
Introduction to ecology and management of rare plants of the Southeast.
Natural Areas Journal 21:4-11.
White, P. S., S. P. Wilds, and G. A.
Thunhorst. 1998. Southeast. Pages 255-314 in M. J. Mac, P. A. Opler, C. E.
Puckett Haecker, and P. D. Doran (eds.). Status and trends of the national’s
biological resources. 2 vols. U.S. Dept. of the Interior, U.S. Geological
Survey, Reston, VA.
White, P. S., and J. L. Walker. 1997.
Approximating nature s variation: selecting and using reference sites and
reference information in restoration ecology. Restoration Ecology 5:338-249.
Fiedler, P. L., P. S. White, and R. A. Leidy.
1997. The paradigm shift in ecology and its implications for conservation. In
The ecological basis of conservation: Heterogeneity, Ecosystems, and
Biodiversity (Pickett, S. T. A., R. S. Ostfeld, M. Shachak, and G.E. Likens,
eds.), pp. 83-92. New York: Chapman & Hall.
White, P. S. 1996. Spatial and biological
scales in reintroduction. In Restoring diversity (Falk, D. A., C. Millar, and
M. Olwell, eds.), pp. 49-86. New York: Island Press.
Miller, R. I., S. P. Bratton, and P. S. White.
1987. A regional strategy for reserve design and placement based on an
analysis of rare and endangered species distribution patterns. Biol. Conserv.
39:255-268.
Miller, R. I., and P. S. White. 1986.
Considerations for preserve design based on the distribution of rare plant in
Great Smoky Mountains National Park, USA. Environ. Manage. 6:119-124.
White, P. S. 1984.. Impacts of cultural and
historic resources on natural diversity: Lessons from Great Smoky Mountains
National Park, North Carolina and Tennessee, pp. 120-132. In J.L. Cooley and
J.H. Cooley (eds.), Natural Diversity in Forest Ecosystems. Institute of
Ecology, University of Georgia, Athens, Ga. iii, 290 pp.
Bratton, S. P., and P. S. White. 1980. Rare
plant management—after preservation what? Rhodora 82: 49-75.
White, P. S., and S. P. Bratton. 1980. After
preservation: the philosophical and practical problems of change. Biol
Conserv 18:241-255
Species richness, biogeography, scale
Fridley, J. D., R. K. Peet, T. R. Wentworth,
and P. S. White. 2005. Connecting fine- and broad-scale species-area
relationships of Southeastern US flora. Ecology 86(5): 1172 – 1177.
Qian, H. R. E. Ricklefs, and P. S. White. 2005.
Beta diversity of angiosperms in temperate floras of eastern Asia and eastern
North America. Ecology Letters 8:15-22.
Ricklefs, R. E., H. Qian, and P. S. White.
2004. The region effect on mesoscale plant species richness between eastern
Asia and eastern North America. Ecography 27:1-8.
Nekola, J. C., and P. S. White. 2002.
Conservation: the two pillars of ecological explanation and the paradigm of
distance. Natural Areas Journal 22: 305-310.
Palmer, M. W., Peter G. Earls, Bruce W.
Hoagland, Peter S. White, Thomas Wohlgemuth. 2002. Quantitative tools for
perfecting species lists. Environmetrics 13:121-137.
Nekola, J. C., and P. S. White. 1999. The
distance decay of similarity in biogeography and ecology. Journal of
Biogeography 26:867-878.
Withers, M.A., M. W. Palmer, G. L. Wade, P. S.
White, and P. R. Neal. 1998. Changing patterns in the number of species in
North American floras. Ch.4, pages 23-31 in T.D. Sisk (ed.), Prespectives on
the land use history of North America: a context for understanding our
changing environment. Biological Science Report USGS/BRD/BSR-1998-0003.
Qian, H., P. S. White, K. Klinka, and C.
Chourmouzis. 1999. Phytogeogrpahical and community similarities of alpline
tundras of Changbaishan Summit, China, and Indian Peaks, USA. Journal of
Vegetation Science 10:869-882.
Wiser, S. K., R. K. Peet, and P. S. White.
1998. Prediction of rare plant occurrence: a southern Appalachian example.
Ecological Applications 8:909-920.
Withers, M.A., M. W. Palmer, G. L. Wade, P. S.
White, and P. R. Neal. 1997. Changing patterns in North American Plant
diversity. Retrieved, October 23, 1998, from the Land Use History of North
America (LUHNA) web site at http://www.nbs.gov/luhna/floras/palmer1.html
Palmer, M. W., and P. S. White. 1994. Scale
dependence and the species-area relationship. Amer. Nat. 144:717-740.
White, P. S., and J. Nekola. 1992. Biological
diversity in an ecological context. Pages 10-27 in J. R. Barker and D. T.
Tingey (eds.), The effects of air pollution on biodiversity. Van Nostrand
Reinhold.
White, P. S., and R. I. Miller. 1988.
Topographic models of vascular plant richness in the southern Appalachian
high peaks. J. Ecol. 76:192-199.
White, P. S. 1983. East Asian-East North
American floristic relations: the plant community level. Ann. Missouri Bot.
Garden 70:734-747.
Exotic species, native species and gardens
Reichard, S. H., and P. S. White. 2003.
Invasion biology: a major field of study. Annals of the Missouri Botanical
Garden 90: 64-66.
White, P. S., and J. Randall. 2002. Carrying
out a self-assessment on the invasive plant issue. The Public Garden 12 (4):
18-20.
White, P. S. 2002. Developing a code of
conduct: the North Carolina Botanical Garden experience. Pages 22-24 in K.
Fay (ed.), Proceedings of the workshop, “Linking ecology and horticulture to
prevent plant invasions”, Missouri Botanical Garden, St. Louis.
White, P. S. 2002. Linking ecology and
horticulture to prevent plant invasions: An introduction to the St.Louis
Declaration and the Codes of Conduct. Wildland Weeds. Winter 2002, 6(1):4-6.
Reichard, S. H., and P. S. White. 2001.
Horticulture as a pathway of invasive plant introductions in the United
States. BioScience 51:103-113.
White, P. S. 1999. Exploring wilderness in our
backyards. The Public Garden April (1999):35-36.
White, P. S., 1999. The Chapel Hill Thesis.
Botanical Gardens Conservation NEWS Vol. 3, No. 3, p. 13.
White, P. S., and A. Schwarz. 1998. Where do
we go from here? The challenges of risk assessment for invasive plants. Weed
Technology 12:744-751.
White, Peter S. 1998. Biodiversity and the
exotic species threat. Pages 1-7 in: Exotic pests of eastern forests
(Britton, K., ed.). Atlanta: Tennessee Exotic Plant Council and USDA Forest
Service.
White, P. S. 1998. Proclaiming the wonder of
the plant kingdom around us: The importance of native plant collections. The
Public Garden 13 (3, July 1998): 31-32.
White, P. S. 1997. A bill falls due: botanical
gardens and the exotic species problem. The Public Garden April 1997:22-25.
White, P. S. 1996. In search of the
conservation garden. The Public Garden 11(2):11-13,40.
The Smokies
Jenkins, M., and P. S. White. 2002. Cornus
florida L. mortality and understory composition changes in western Great
Smoky Mountains National Park. J. Torrey Bot. Soc. 129:194-206.
White, P. S., S. Wilds, and D. A. Stratton
2001. The distribution of heath balds in the Great Smoky Mountains. Journal
of Vegetation Science 12:453-466.
White, P. S.. 2000. The Science Plan for the
All Taxa Biodiversity Inventory in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, North
Carolina and Tennessee. Discover Life in America, Gatlinburg, TN. 15 pp.
Wiser, S. K., and P. S. White 1999. High
elevation outcrops and barrens of the southern Appalachian mountains. Pages
119-132 in: Savannas, barrens, and rock outcrop plant communities of North
America (Anderson, R. C., J. S. Fralish, and J. M. Baskin, eds.). Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press.
Harrod, Jonathan C., M. E. Harmon, and P. S.
White. 2000. Post-fire succession and twentieth century reduction in fire
frequency on xeric southern Appalachian sites. Journal of Vegetation Science.
11:465-472.
Harrod, J., M. E. Harmon, and P. S. White.
1998. Changes in xeric forests in western Great Smoky Mountains National
Park, 1936-1995. Castanea 63:346-360.
MacKenzie, M. D., and P. S. White 1998. The
vegetation of Great Smoky Mountains National Park: 1935-1938. Castanea
63:323-336.
White PS, Sutter RD (1998) Southern
Appalachian grassy balds: lessons for management and regional conservation. In:
Peine JD (ed.) Ecosystem management: principles and practices illustrated by
a regional biosphere cooperative. St. Lucie Press, Delray Beach, Florida, pp
375-396
Cogbill, C. V., P. S. White, and S. K. Wiser.
1997. Predicting treeline elevation in the southern Appalachians. Castanea
62:137-146.
Wiser, S. K., R. K. Peet, and P. S. White.
1996. High elevation rock outcrop vegetation of the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
Journal of Vegetation Science 7:703-722.
White, P. S., T. Condon, J. Rock, C. A. McCormick,
P. Beaty, and K. Langdon. 1996. Wildflowers of the Smokies. Gatlinburg,
Tennessee: Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association. Gatlinburg,
Tennessee. 230 pp. [2nd Edition, 2003]
White, P. S. 1995. Conserving biodiversity:
lessons from the Smokies. FORUM for Applied Research and Public Policy
10(2):116-120.
White, P. S., E. Buckner, J. D. Pittillo, and
C. V. Cogbill. 1993. High elevation forests: spruce-fir forests, northern
hardwood forests, and associated communities. In "Biodiversity of the
Southeastern United States" (W. H. Martin, S. G. Boyce, and A. C.
Echternacht, eds.), pp. 305-338. New York: John Wiley.
Busing, R. T., E. E. C. Clebsch, and P. S.
White. 1993. Biomass and production of southern Appalachian cove forests
reexamined. Can. J. For. Res. 23:760-765.
Busing, R. T., P. S. White, and M. D.
MacKenzie. 1993. Gradient analysis of old spruce-fir forests of the Great
Smoky Mountains circa 1935. Can. J. Bot. 71:951-958.
White, P. S., and C. V. Cogbill. 1992.
Spruce-fir forests of eastern North America. Pages 3-39 in C. Eagar and M. B.
Adams (eds.), The ecology and decline of red spruce in the eastern United
States. Springer-Verlag.
Johnson, A. H., S. B. McLaughlin, M. B. Adams,
E. R. Cook, D. H. DeHayes, C. Eagar, I. J. Fernandez, D. W. Johnson, R. J.
Kohut, V. A. Mohnen, N. S. Nicholas, D. R. Peart, G. A. Schier, and P. S.
White. 1992. Why are red spruce declining at high elevations? A synthesis of
epidemiological and mechanistic studies. Pages 385-412 in C. Eagar and M. B.
Adams (eds.), The ecology and decline of red spruce in the eastern United
States. Springer-Verlag.
Cogbill, C. V., and P. S. White. 1991. The
latitude-elevation relationship for spruce-fir forest and treeline along the
Appalachian Mountain chain. Vegetatio 94:153-176.
Callaway, R. M., E. E. C. Clebsch, and P. S.
White. 1989. Predicting woody production by canopy trees in forest
communities in the western Great Smoky Mountains. Forest Science. 35:338-348.
Callaway, R. M., E. E. C. Clebsch, and P. S.
White. 1987. A multivariate analysis of forest communities in the western
Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Amer. Midl. Naturalist 118: 107-120
White, P. S. (ed.). 1984. The southern
Appalachian spruce-fir ecosystem: its biology and threats. USDI, National
Park Service, Southeast Regional Office, Research/Resource Manage. Rept.
SER-71. 268 p.
White, P. S. 1982. The flora of Great Smoky
Mountains National Park: an annotated checklist of the vascular plants and a
review of previous floristic work. USDI, National Park Service, Southeast
Regional Office, Research/Resource Manage. Rept. SER-55. 219 p.
Vegetation, communities
Graves, J. H., R. K. Peet, and P. S. White (in
press). The influence of carbon - nutrient balance on herb and woody plant abundance
in temperate forest understories. Journal of Vegetation Science.
White, P. S., and R. White, Jr. 1996.
Old-growth oak and oak-hickory forests. Pages 178-198 In "Eastern
old-growth forests: prospects for rediscovery and recovery" (M. B.
Davis, ed.). New York: Island Press.
Palmer, M. W., and P. S. White. 1994. On the
existence of ecological communities. Journal of Vegetation Science 5:279-282.
Reed, R. A., R. K. Peet, M. W. Palmer, and P.
S. White. 1993. Scale dependence of vegetation-environment correlations: a
case study of a North Carolina piedmont woodland. J. Veg. Sci. 4:329-340.
Tree architecture and Aralia
spinosa
White, P. S. 1988. Prickle distribution in the
small tree Aralia spinsoa L. Am. J. Bot. 75:282-285.
White, P. S. 1983. Corner's Rules in eastern
deciduous trees: allometry and its implications for the adaptive architecture
of trees. Bull. Torrey Bot. Club 110:203-212.
White, P. S. 1983. Evidence that temperate
east North American evergreen woody plants follow Corner's Rules. New Phytol.
95:139-145.
White, P. S. 1984. The architecture of devil's
walkingstick, Aralia spinosa L.
(Araliaceae). J. Arnold Arb., Harv. Univ. 65:403-418.
White First Law of Graduate School
White, P. S. 1996. Nature's predictability and
nature's surprises. Chinkapin 4(2):15-16.
