Robert MacArthur

…proposed by Canadian-born American ecologist Robert MacArthur in 1955, homeostasis in ecosystems is a product of the combination of biodiversity and large numbers of ecological interactions that occur between species. It was thought of as a concept that could help to explain an ecosystem’s stability—that is, its persistence as a…

In 1955 Canadian-born American ecologist Robert MacArthur proposed a measure of community stability that was related to the complexity of an ecosystem’s food web. He stated that ecosystem stability increased as the number of interactions (complexity) between the different species within the ecosystem also increased. His collaborator, Australian theoretical physicist…

…strategies posited by American ecologist Robert MacArthur and American biologist Edward O. Wilson; r-selected species—that is, species whose populations are governed by their biotic potential (maximum reproductive capacity)—make up the second strategy.

…strategies posited by American ecologist Robert MacArthur and American biologist Edward O. Wilson; K-selected species—that is, species whose population sizes fluctuate at or near their carrying capacity (K)—make up the second strategy.

…biogeography, developed by American ecologist Robert MacArthur and American biologist E.O. Wilson in the 1960s. (The former theory proposed that the collective activities of several distinct but interacting populations drive the ecological fate of the species, and the latter theory posited that islands that are larger and located closer to…