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PC 122
Rexford F. Daubenmire
Ecological Images 1931-1992 (bulk 1931-1976)

ACQUISITION AND PROCESSING INFORMATION

The Rexford F. Daubenmire ecological images were donated to the Washington State University Library by Rexford F. Daubenmire, professor emeritus of botany at WSU, (apparently as MS 1991-18 and MS 1993-26) and were preliminarily processed during the summer and fall of 2006 by Cara Kaser-Bradfield and finalized in December 2009 and January 2010 by Susan Vetter.

EXTENT/QUANTITY INFORMATION

BIOGRAPHICAL HISTORY

Rexford F. Daubenmire was born 12 December 1909 in Coldwater, Ohio. He graduated from Butler University with a bachelor’s degree in 1930, the University of Colorado with a master’s degree in 1932, and received a doctorate from the University of Minnesota in 1935 in botany under William S. Cooper. He subsequently taught at the University of Tennessee for a year then the University of Idaho for a decade before accepting a position with Washington State College (later Washington State University) in 1946. He remained with WSU for 29 years and was professor emeritus of botany after his retirement in 1975. Daubenmire also held short appointments with several other universities and agencies, including at the Organization of Tropical Studies in Costa Rica, the United States Forest Service, and the Sierra Club. Daubenmire was a member of the Pacific Northwest Science Association, the American Society of Range Management, and the Association of Southeastern Biologists. In 1967 he served as president of the Ecological Society of America and received the society’s Eminent Ecologist Award in 1980, among other honors. Upon his retirement in 1975, Daubenmire moved to Florida with his wife, Jean, where he continued to research and publish until his death on 27 August 27 1995.

Daubenmire was widely recognized as one of the leading scholars in the field of plant ecology during his time. In the 1950s, he introduced a classification scheme for forest and grassland vegetation that the United States Forest Service later adopted. The Daubenmire system emphasized habitat, rather than what vegetation currently existed due to fire and human activity, such as ranching and farming, frequently altering native vegetation. Daubenmire also made significant contributions in explaining the relationship between vegetation and environmental conditions for a better understanding of ecological succession, the migration of plant species in North America over time, the range of tree species, and the impact of fire on plant communities.

Daubenmire published over 100 works in the field of plant ecology, including three widely used textbooks: "Plants and Environment: A Textbook of Plant Autecology," first published in 1947 and revised twice, served as standard text in agronomy, botany, and forestry classes and was translated into several languages, including Polish and Spanish; "Plant Communities: A Textbook of Plant Synecology," published in 1968, also became standard reference for ecologists; and finally "Plant Geography: with Special Reference to North America" published in 1978. Known affectionately as “Dauby” by his former students, Daubenmire supervised over 35 doctoral and 18 master's students in the field of botany during his tenure at WSU, many of whom later took positions as professors and ecologists within universities and government organizations around the world. The Department of Botany and the School of Biological Sciences recognize Daubenmire's contribution to the field and to WSU with the Rexford Daubenmire Award in Botany.

DESCRIPTION

This photographic collection consists of several thousand black and white photographs and negatives (including some nitrate negatives), and slides of vegetation across North, Central, and South America, Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Australia, with special consideration for the states of Washington, Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming. Daubenmire's original photographic logs accompany the images. Images are described individually from Daubenmire's own notes, listing location and vegetation, and including Daubenmire's annotations about date and subsequent changes.

ARRANGEMENT

The collection is arranged by location and date roughly, retaining both the original order and image numbering system Daubenmire established. Negatives and prints with the same image share descriptions and item numbers. Descriptions and item numbers do not differentiate between negatives and prints with several hundred negatives lacking corresponding prints. The finding aid is arranged into three series: Series 1 contains ecological prints and negatives, Series 2 contains slides, and Series 3 consists of Daubenmire’s photographic logs and miscellaneous materials. Materials not retained include nearly a score of small hand-sized notebooks, blank except for hand-numbered pages and presumably intended for field notes and/or photographic logs.

Washington locations receive the most attention, although other Rocky Mountain states including Idaho but also Colorado, Montana, and Wyoming are documented along with sites in other states and countries. Images emphasize the vegetation of southeastern Washington and northwestern Idaho, especially the Palouse. As a large part of his professional research, Daubenmire photographed extensively in the fields, mountains, and forests of the Inland Northwest and thus the collection documents grassland and forest vegetation, including native and non-native species. The collection records the changes of vegetation in these areas between the 1930s and 1970s. Photographs show native or “virgin” tracts of grassland and forest vegetation, many of which have been succeeded in recent years by other vegetation through human and animal impact. The collection includes photographs which document the impact of fire on plant communities as well as Daubenmire’s personal graphs, charts, and maps.

To aid researchers interested in the Palouse region, an index of Washington and Idaho counties, cities, towns, and landforms mentioned in the collection is provided below. The names listed were used by Daubenmire in his descriptions as a guide to the photograph's location. The name “Palouse” to describe a geographical area is infrequently used in the collection but here is defined broadly as southeastern Washington and part of northwestern Idaho. Washington counties, cities, towns, and landforms include Albion, Almota Canyon, Colfax, Colton, Dusty, Edwall, Ewan, Hooper, Kahlotus, LaCrosse, Lamont, Lind, Malden, McAdam, Oakesdale, Palouse, Palouse Falls, Palouse River, Pomeroy, Pullman, Ritzville, Rosalia, Silcott, Sprague, Starbuck, Steptoe, Tekoa, Tucannon, Union Creek Flat, Union Flat, Walker, Washtucna, Wawawai Canyon, Whitman County, and Winona. Idaho counties, cities, towns, and landforms include Genesee, Latah County, Moscow, Moscow Mountain, Thatuna Ridge, and Viola.

Because some taxonomic names have changed since Daubenmire’s research days, an index of scientific plant names and their corresponding common names is provided at the end of this document as an aid to researchers of the Palouse. The index is based on the 2006 scientific classification according to "The Plants Database" maintained by the United States Department of Agriculture (http://plants.usda.gov). When possible, common names have been added to descriptions within brackets next to scientific names (example: Abies [fir]) to allow researchers to search by a common name if desired. In addition, not all common names are listed.

RELATED MATERIALS

MASC holds other Daubenmire materials, including the following collections:
Rexford F. Daubenmire Papers (1936-1970), Cage 154 - Field records of vegetation and soils in eastern Washington and northern Idaho. These records include data sheets for field plots noting vegetation and soils for Daubenmire's 1968 publication (with Jean Daubenmire) "Forest vegetation of eastern Washington and northern Idaho," Washington Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 60, and his 1970 publication "Steppe Vegetation of Washington," Washington Agricultural Experiment Station Technical Bulletin 62.
Rexford F. Daubenmire Papers (1948), Cage 4485 - Manuscript journal and field records of a botanical expedition comprising a summer course in the field ecology of the Northern Rockies.
Rexford F. Daubenmire Papers (unprocessed), MS 1997-05 - other papers, publications by Daubenmire.
Daubenmire Botanical Lantern Slides - PC 44 - Oregon, Washington, and Idaho, 1920s.

ACCESS

The collection is open to researchers.

PREFERRED CITATION

The suggested citation for the collection is:

[Item Description]
Rexford F. Daubenmire Ecological Images(PC 122)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections
Washington State University Libraries
Pullman, WA