The 2015 Ramon Margalef Prize to Robert E. Ricklefs: A passion for evolutionary ecology Authors Joan Lluís Pretus Department of Evolutionary Biology, Ecology and Environmental Sciences, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Catalonia Keywords: Ramon Margalef Prize 2015 Abstract Two passions were the starting points of Robert Ricklefs’ career: the reproduction of birds and the biodiversity of the tropics. It is important to underlie his key contribution to the unification of the biological sciences that he achieved to demonstrate by the unifying nature of his work and by suggesting the scale of the scientific background on which it rests. Among his multiple contributions to the science of ecology is the notion of evolutionary trade-off that included functional, metabolic, demographic and population considerations. He has made a crucial contribution to the consolidation of the theory of life histories. We might even say that the impact of his critiques of the theories of biological diversity of communities has a relevant part in the research agenda in the coming years. In contrast to the prevailing dualism to explain biodiversity (niche theory and neutral theory), Professor Ricklefs provides solid empirical data and realistic arguments calling for an urgent update of the current paradigm. [Contrib Sci 12(1):23-25 (2016)]Keywords: Ramon Margalef Prize 2015 Downloads PDF Issue Vol. 12 No. 1 (2016) Section Distinguished lectures/Ramon Margalef Prize 2015 License This work is subject, unless the contrary is indicated in the text, the photographs or in other illustrations, to an Attribution —Non-Commercial— No Derivative Works 3.0 Creative Commons License, the full text of which can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/. You are free to share, copy, distribute and transmit the work provided that the author is credited and reuse of the material is restricted to non-commercial purposes only and that no derivative works are created from the original material.
