Ayres Arthur Tansley turned the old plant geography into the new science of ecology, teaching botanists to look at vegetation rather than individual plant species. He recognised S ha that vegetation is continuously changing and how, especially in the British islands, it is influenced by man’s activities. Safeguarding wild places from the pressures of agriculture p and industry would demand, he argued, not sterile preservation but active conservation in within nature reserves – places where the principles of ecology could be applied to the scientific management of plants and animals. g Ecology: Author of a best-selling book on psychology, and a respected philosopher, Tansley was no mere academic. He used his authority and political skills to achieve practical results, such as the foundation of the Nature Conservancy, of which he was the first Chairman. In the ecological principles he laid out, most notably the ecosystem, he left an invaluable legacy for ecologists and conservationists worldwide. The Life of Arthur of Tansley Life The Peter Ayres was taught by, or worked with, several of Tansley’s closest friends. He was for seven years Executive Editor of the New Phytologist, the journal founded by Tansley. After a career teaching plant physiology and pathology at Lancaster University, his interest in the history of plant sciences has led him to write Harry Marshall Ward and the Fungal Thread of Death and The Aliveness of Plants: The Darwins at the Dawn of Plant Science. Cover image: Chalk Paths by Ravilious, Eric (1903-42). Private Collection/The Bridgeman Art Library. Cover design by Design Deluxe Shaping Ecology The Life of Arthur Tansley Peter Ayres fffirs.inddfirs.indd iiii 22/3/2012/3/2012 99:30:22:30:22 PPMM S h a p i n g E c o l o g y fffirs.inddfirs.indd i 22/3/2012/3/2012 99:30:22:30:22 PPMM fffirs.inddfirs.indd iiii 22/3/2012/3/2012 99:30:22:30:22 PPMM Shaping Ecology: The Life of Arthur Tansley Peter Ayres A John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., Publication fffirs.inddfirs.indd iiiiii 22/3/2012/3/2012 99:30:22:30:22 PPMM This edition first published 2012 © 2012 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd Wiley-Blackwell is an imprint of John Wiley & Sons, formed by the merger of Wiley ’ s global Scientific, Technical and Medical business with Blackwell Publishing. Registered Office John Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK Editorial Offices 9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UK The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030-5774, USA For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell . The right of the author to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher. Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information in regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ayres, P. G. (Peter G.) Shaping ecology : the life of Arthur Tansley / Peter Ayres. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-470-67156-6 (hardcover) – ISBN 978-0-470-67154-2 (pbk.) 1. Tansley, A. G. (Arthur George), Sir, 1871–1955. 2. Tansley, A. G. (Arthur George), Sir, 1871–1955–Political and social views. 3. Ecologists–Great Britain–Biography. 4. Botanists–Great Britain–Biography. 5. Ecology–Great Britain–History. 6. Nature conservation–Great Britain–History. 7. Natural areas– Great Britain–History. 8. Nature Conservancy (Great Britain)–History. 9. Field Studies Council (Great Britain)–History. 10. Great Britain–Environmental conditions. I. Title. QH31.T37A87 2012 577.09–dc23 2011040963 A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books. Set in 10/12.5pt Minion by SPi Publisher Services, Pondicherry, India 1 2012 fffirs.inddfirs.indd iivv 22/3/2012/3/2012 99:30:22:30:22 PPMM C o n t e n t s List of Figures vi Foreword viii Preface and Acknowledgements x 1 Kingley Vale: Worth Fighting For 1 2 The Origins of Ecology 15 3 George Tansley, Christian Socialism, and the Working Men ’ s College 20 4 Highgate School, University College, London, and Trinity College, Cambridge 38 5 Teaching at University College, the Chicks, and Marriage to Edith 48 6 Seashores and Woodlands: Looking for Patterns 60 7 The Managing Director of British Ecology 80 8 Disillusion and Disaffection 101 9 The Oxford Years, 1927–1937 122 10 The Magnum Opus, Grantchester, and Retirement 144 11 The Years of Fulfilment, 1937–1953 155 12 A Detached Liberal Philosopher and Free-thinker 179 References 198 Index 206 fftoc.inddtoc.indd v 22/3/2012/3/2012 99:27:31:27:31 PPMM F i g u r e s Cover illustration ‘Chalk paths’ by Eric Ravilious (1903–1942). Much of Ravilious’ work was inspired by the South Downs. (By permission of the Towner Museum, Eastbourne, and DACS (2011).) Preface illustration Arthur Tansley photographed during the 1930s when he was Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxford. xii Figure 1.1 Ancient yews at Kingley Vale. 2 Figure 1.2 The bookplate designed by Arthur Tansley. 4 Figure 1.3 Harry Godwin, top left, and F. F. ‘Fritz’ Blackman, top right; Frank Oliver, bottom left, and Roy Clapham, bottom right. 8 Figure 3.1 Central London, where key events in Tansley’s early life occurred. 21 Figure 3.2 George, Arthur (aged 21), and Amelia Tansley at Midsummer Hill, Malvern, 1892. 30 Figure 6.1 The field laboratory on the occasion of the first visit to Bouche d’Erquy, Brittany, 1904. Soil weighing and salt determinations are in progress in the foreground. Others figures are boring for soil cores. From left to right: E. A. N. Arber, W. C. Worsdell, F. F. Blackman, and ‘at the balance room’ Frances Chick. 66 Figure 6.2 Relations between the dominant species of tree and conditions determining the associations. Upland types are at the top, lowland at the bottom. The size of the capitals indicates the importance of the association. 77 Figure 7.1 The route of the International Phytogeographical Excursion, 1911 (IPE I). 84 Figure 7.2 Cowles, under ‘L’ and Clements, under ‘E’ of ‘LUGGAGE’ at the railway station, Truro, the final stop on the main Excursion. 85 ffbetw.inddbetw.indd vvii 22/3/2012/3/2012 99:27:14:27:14 PPMM List of Figures vii Figure 7.3 Edith and Arthur Tansley, at the University of Chicago, during the International Phytogeographical Excursion, 1913 (IPE II). 88 Figure 7.4 Cowles and Tansley in the field during IPE II. 88 Figure 8.1 (a) Deflected succession and the plagioclimax. (b) The subclimax, as conceived by Frederic Clements. 116 Figure 9.1 Magdalen College from High Street, Oxford, in 1925, photographed by Tansley’s colleague, A. H. Church. The Department of Botany (hidden, right) is opposite the tower. 125 Figure 10.1 Contrasting hydroseres in shallow lake waters: based on Pearsall’s researches in Esthwaite Water. 149 Figure 10.2 Scheme of some subseres and plagioseres, including that at Broadbalk Wilderness, leading to Quercetum roboris. 151 Figure 10.3 The CSR model of plant functional types. S(tress) equals phenomena that restrict photosynthesis, e.g. shortages of light, water, or minerals. C (ompetition) may be inter- or intraspecific. R stands for ruderals, plants favoured by disturbance, such as ploughing, mowing, herbivory, or fire. 152 More pictures of Tansley may be seen at www.newphytologist.org/tansley/ , and of his family at www.branscombeproject.org.uk/Attic%20Trunks.pdf . ffbetw.inddbetw.indd vviiii 22/3/2012/3/2012 99:27:14:27:14 PPMM Foreword by Alastair Fitter FRS on behalf of the New Phytologist Trust and the British Ecological Society Arthur Tansley was one of the few people who can claim the distinction of being one of the founders of a discipline. He was present at the birth of the modern discipline of ecology, a science whose name was only coined – in German – at the end of the 19th century. Tansley was a man of vision but also a great moderniser, whose influence is still strongly felt. He was a botanist and something of an iconoclast, who railed against the rigid and old-fashioned teaching methods of his day. His solution was also very modern: he harnessed media power by founding and editing a new journal, albeit one with a very traditional name – the New Phytologist – which is today one of the most successful international plant science journals.