Graeme Caughley
| Graeme James Caughley | |
|---|---|
| Born |
28 September 1937 Wanganui, New Zealand |
| Died | 16 February 1994 (aged 56) Canberra, ACT, Australia |
| Fields | Ecology |
| Institutions |
New Zealand Forest Service Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation "CSIRO" University of Sydney Australia |
| Alma mater | University of Canterbury |
| Thesis | Growth, stabilisation and decline of New Zealand populations of the Himalayan thar (Hemitragus jemlahicus) (1967) |
| Doctoral advisors |
Bernard Stonehouse Robert Sidney Bigelow |
| Doctoral students | Ron Sinclair |
| Known for | The declining population paradigm |
| Influences | Thane Riney |
Graeme James Caughley (28 September 1937 – 16 February 1994) was a New Zealand population ecologist, conservation biologist, and researcher. He combined empirical research with mathematical models, and supported the declining population paradigm.
Caughley was the middle of three children. He was the only son born to John Norman Caughley and Thelma Caughley. His father would take him on excursions while his mother encouraged his curiosity. As a young child Caughley was very inquisitive and he recalled finding a seashell on top of a hill. At the age of seven he determined that the sea must have once covered the hill and was proud to have resolved the problem. This event encouraged him to learn more about New Zealand's geology and as Gunn and Walker explain "Ecology had a close call with Graeme Caughley. He almost chose geology at the start of his career..."
Caughley attended Victoria University College in Wellington, New Zealand from 1956 to 1959. Tyndale-Biscoe writes that "there is no record of any particular lecturers influencing his thinking." In his last two years Caughley dropped down to part-time and went to work with his friend Thane Riney at the New Zealand Forest Service on feral goat herds.
Caughley continued his education at the University of Sydney (1960–1963) with his advisors Charles Birch (insect population ecologist) and Harry Frith (ornithologist). Frith was chief of the Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) and Caughley used the CSIRO sheep station to study the ecology of kangaroos. Caughley found that kangaroo groups are formed by a random process of members coming and leaving, which was in contrast to what he had seen in red deer. He interpreted this to mean that random grouping was density dependent with increased grouping at higher densities. An approximation of density could then be found by taking the average number of individuals per group in a given area. Continuing his research he found that red kangaroos are much more drought-tolerant than grey kangaroos, which visit water three times more often. In addition he showed that grey kangaroos prefer areas of higher ground cover than do red kangaroos and that this may be a behavioural relic from when the Tasmanian wolf and Tasmanian devil overlapped in habitat with the kangaroo.
While working for the New Zealand Forest Service, Graeme used his research on the Himalayan tahr (Hemitragus jemlahicus) towards his doctoral work. He decided to work on tahr because at that time everyone claimed to be an expert on red deer and he thought that he would make a greater contribution working on the lesser known tahr. Caughley wanted to see if Thane Riney's eruption and stabilisation patterns in deer also applied to tahr. He used his studies at the Forest Service for his PhD thesis at the University of Canterbury (1962–1967) advised primarily by Bernard Stonehouse (Antarctic and penguin ecologist). Using three study populations of Himalayan tahr (judged to be in the initial increase, initial stabilisation, and decline stage) Caughley found that tahr follow the pattern that Riney had found in deer.
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