Leslie Holdridge

Leslie Rensselaer Holdridge
Born	September 29, 1907 Ledyard, Connecticut
Died	June 19, 1999 Easton, Maryland
Citizenship	USA
Nationality	USA
Institutions	Instituto Tecnologico de Costa Rica
Alma mater	H. B.S. in Forestry, University of Maine, 1931, postgrad., 1931-32; M.S. in Ecology, University of Michigan, 1946, Ph.D., 1947.

Professor Leslie Ransselaer Holdridge (1907 to 1999) was an American botanist and climatologist. He was the son of Samuel Eneas Holdridge and Phebe J. Holmes. And he is the father of the American composer Lee Holdridge.

Overview

Main article: Holdridge life zones

Diagram of life zone classifications.

In his famous 1947 paper, he defined "life zones" using three indicators:

1. Mean annual biotemperature (average temperature, after data values below 0°C or above 30°C have been eliminated)
2. Total annual precipitation
3. The ratio of mean annual potential evapotranspiration to mean total annual precipitation.

See also

• Climate classification

References

• Holdridge, L.R. (1947) Determination of world plant formations from simple climatic data. Science, 105, 367—368.