Yoda

Researching a way to synthesize a rainforest ecosystem, I ran across this reference:

Yoda K.. 1978. Three-dimensional distribution of light intensity in a tropical rain forest of West Malaysia. Malayan Nature Journal 30: 161-177.

Obituary

Kyoji Yoda (1931–1996)

On 11 December 1996 professor Kyoji Yoda passed away suddenly and unexpectedly, and Japan lost a great ecologist and teacher. He certainly was one of the leading Japanese plant ecologists and, internationally, his contributions to that field of science are highly renowned. It is most unfortunate that his valuable participation was terminated by his untimely death.

Kyoji Yoda was born on 6 November 1931 in Nagano, Central Japan. Nagano is a mountainous area with a diverse natural variety: scenic landscapes, beautiful mountain forests and alpine vegetation. He lived in the Nagano Prefecture before entering Chiba University, in the Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo, in 1950. At Chiba, he studied with Professor Makoto Numata, a pioneer in Japanese plant ecology and a stimulating tutor with international scope.

Kyoji Yoda received his B.Sc. degree at Chiba in 1954 and then proceeded to the Graduate School of Osaka City University (OCU), where he studied under Professor Tatuo Kira, another eminent and internationally-oriented plant ecologist. Kira’s inspiring group formed a stimulus for Kyoji Yoda’s creative mind and his interest in applying mathematical tools to nature analysis. Here developed his strong interests in plant population biology and production ecology. Simultaneously his interest in problems concerning nature conservation, already shaped under Numata’s influence, was reinforced. In 1957 Kyoji Yoda received his M.Sc. and in 1966 his Ph.D. degree, both from OCU.

By the time he completed his Ph.D. he already held the position of lecturer at OCU, in 1974 he was promoted to associate professor, and in 1984 he succeeded Professor Kira and became full professor of plant Ecology. He remained at OCU until his retirement in 1995. Subsequently he became professor of Environmental Ecology at the University of Shiga Prefecture. He served on the editorial board of Vegetatio (nowPlant Ecology) from 1990 to 1996.