Abstract
THE last forty years have witnessed the growth and establishment of the idea of ecology. Twenty years ago it was possible for botanical professors to pronounce that they simply disbelieved in ecology, and it was a word of mystery to the general pullic. 1911 saw the publication of "Types of British Vegetation" by Prof. A. G. Tansley, and in 1913 the British Ecological Society was founded, with its periodical The Journal of Ecology, to which in 1932 was added The Journal of Animal Ecology. In 1939 there appeared the monumental volume, "The British Islands and their Vegetation", by Prof. Tansley, which demonstrated by its advance upon "Types of British Vegetation" the tremendous extension of our ecological knowledge of British vegetation, and in 1942 Sir Edward Salisbury‘s book, "The Reproductive Capacity of Plants", which showed the progress of autecological investigation.
Article PDF
References
Introduction to Plant Ecology: a Guide for Beginners in the Study of Plant Communities. By A. G. Tansley. Entirely revised and enlarged second edition of "Practical Plant Ecology" . Pp. 260. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1946.) 8s. 6d. net.
Plant Ecology and the School. By A. G. Tansley and E. Price Evans. Pp. 98. (London: George Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1946.) 6s. net.
Practical Field Ecology: a Guide for the Botany Departments of Universities., Colleges and Schools. By Dr. B. C. McLean and Dr. W. It. Ivimey Cook. Pp. 208. (London: Allen and Unwin, Ltd., 1946.) 9s. net.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
GODWIN, H. The Ecological Approach to Botany. Nature 161, 157–159 (1948). https://doi.org/10.1038/161157a0
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/161157a0