Kalela, Olavi (Finland 1908-1974)
animal ecology

Kalela ranked among the top European animal ecologists of his generation. His studies on microtine populations began shortly after the end of World War II, and included both field-based observation of behavior, and lab-based experimentation and mathematical modeling. He was in particular a leader in the study of animal population fluctuations and cycles (and their subsequent biogeographical implications), especially in relating their ecosystem-level causes (such as changes in food resources or climate) to population-level effects (e.g., reproductive trends).

Life Chronology

--born in Helsinki, Finland, on 25 March 1908.
--1933- : works at various positions in the Museum of Zoology, University of Helsinki
--1938: completes his doctoral dissertation
--1946: begins his studies on voles at Kilpisjärvi, Finland
--1949: publishes "Changes in Geographic Ranges in the Avifauna of Northern and Central Europe in Relation to Recent Changes in Climate" in Bird-Banding
--1957: made professor of zoology at the University of Helsinki; publishes "Regulation of Reproduction Rate in Subarctic Populations of the Vole Clethrionomys rufocanus (Sund.)" in Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae Ser. A-IV, Biologica
--1962: publishes "On the Fluctuations in the Numbers of Arctic and Boreal Small Rodents as a Problem of Production Biology" in Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae Ser. A-IV, Biologica
--1963: helps found the biological station at Kilpisjärvi
--dies on 22 May 1974.

For Additional Information, See:

--Annales Zoologici Fennici 22 (1985): 208-210.

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Copyright 2007 by Charles H. Smith. All rights reserved.
http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/chronob/KALE1908.htm

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