Seventy-five years in ecology : the British Ecological Society

333 Pages·1987·20.32 MB·English

by  Sheail, John

Seventy-fivYee ars
in Ecology
TheB ritish .
EcologicaSlo ciety
JOHN SHEAIL
Forewordb y CharlesH . Gimingham
BlackwelSl cientificP ublications

FRONTISPIECE 'The naturalists ', painted by L. J. Watson. The figures are (left to right) E. B. Ford,
A. G. Tansley, A. S. Watt and C. Diver, on an East Anglian heath in the summer of 1949.
Seventy-Five Years in Ecology:
The British Ecological Society
JOHN SHEAIL
NERC Institute of Terrestrial Ecology
Monks Wood Experimental Station
Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire
FOREWORD BY
CHARLES H. GIMINGHAM
President
British Ecological Society
1986--87
BLACK WELL SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATIONS
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I. British Ecological Society-History
First published 1987 I. Title II. Sheail, John III. Series
574.5'06'041 QH540
Set by Eta Services (Typesetters)
ISBN 0-632-01911-5
Ltd, Beccles, Suffolk, printed
ISBN 0-632-01917-4 Pbk
by Redwood Burn Ltd,
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Ltd, Frome, Somerset.
Sheail,John
Seventy-five years in ecology: the British
Ecological Society/John Sheail.
p. cm.-(Special publication number ...
of the British Ecological Society)
Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-632-01911-5. ISBN 0-632-01917-4
(pbk.)
I. British Ecological Society-
History. I. Title. II. Title: 75 years in
ecology. III. Series: Special publication
... of the British Ecological Society: no.
QH137.S427 1987
574.5'06'041---dc19 87-16763 CP
Contents
Frontispiece, 'The naturalists'
List of Illustrations, ix
Foreword, xi
Preface, xiii
Part 1: The First Ecological Society
in the World
1.1 Beginnings, 3
1.2 Vegetation Mapping, 6
1.2. I The botanical survey of Scotland, 6
1.2.2 The botanical surveys of Yorkshire, 11
1.2.3 'The district lying south of Dublin', 14
1.3 Self-Conscious Ecology, 16
1.4 The British Vegetation Committee, 22
I .4. I 'Work of a more detailed character', 26
1.4.2 The International Phytogeographical Excursion, 30
1.5 The British Ecological Society, 36
Part 2: The First Quarter-Century, 1913-1938
2.1 Disillusionment in 'a Goldfield of Unquestionable Richness', 45
2.1.1 'Botanical Bolshevism', 46
2.1.2 Patrons of ecology, 48
2.2 The Ecological Constituency, 52
2.2.1 The contribution of agricultural science, 54
2.2.2 The contribution of geological science, 56
2.3 The Plant Community and the Ecosystem, 60
V
VI CONTENTS
2.4 'The British Islands and their Vegetation', 66
2.4. l Studies of the hydrosere, 67
2.4.2 The biotic effect, 69
2.4.3 Pollen and peat stratigraphy, 74
2.4.4 The life conditions of plants, 83
2.5 Animal Ecology, 83
2.5.1 Animals and the food cycle, 87
2.5.2 The regulation of animal numbers, 90
2.5.3 Journal of Animal Ecology, 94
2.6 Common Causes in Plant and Animal Ecology, 99
2.6.1 Statistical techniques and theory, 100
2.6.2 Centres for research, l03
2.6.3 Overseas ecology, l07
2.6.4 The employment of ecologists, 112
Part 3: The Second Quarter-Century, 1939-1963
3.1 Continuity and Change, 121
3.1.1 Ecologists and the war effort, 122
3.2 The Protection of Wildlife, 130
3.2.1 Nature preservation, 130
3.2.2 Nature conservation, 134
3.2.3 The quest for an ecological research council, 138
3.3 The Business of the Society, 146
3.3.1 Thejournals, 148
3.3.2 Meetings and symposia, 151
3.4 Ecology at the Mid-Century, 157
3.4.1 Vegetation surveys and phytosociology, 160
3.4.2 Pattern and process in the plant community, 166
3.4.3 A biological flora of the British Isles, 171
3.4.4 The search for a 'systema naturae', 175
3.4.5 'The struggle for existence', 180
3.5 The Nature Conservancy, 188
Part 4: The Third Quarter-Century, 1964-1988
4.1 Overhauling the Society's Affairs, 197
4.1.1 A learned society run by 'a load of amateurs', 200
CONTENTS Vil
4.2 The Journal of Applied Ecology, 204
4.3 The Annual Round of Meetings, 210
4.3.1 Ecology and the industrial landscape, 213
4.3.2 The specialist groups, 217
4.4 The Society and the Environmental Revolution, 224
4.4.1 The Cow Green reservoir and the Teesdale flora, 226
4.4.2 The 'Split', 23 I
4.4.3 Putting across the Society's message, 235
4.5 A More Outward-Looking Society, 240
4.5.1 The consultant ecologist, 240
4.5.2 The sponsorship of education and research, 245
4.6 The Presidential Viewpoint, 251
4.6.1 The outlook for ecologists, 251
4.6.2 The challenge of ecology, 255
Appendix: Honorary Members and Officers of the Society, 263
Notes, 266
References, 268
Index,291

List of Illustrations
Plates
(to be found between pp. 82 and 83
'The naturalists', frontispiece
Robert Smith
2 William G. Smith
3 British Association meeting at Cambridge in 1904
4 British Association meeting at Portsmouth in 1911
5 British Association meeting at Bournemouth in 1919
6 C. E. Moss
7 R.H. Yapp
8 T.W. Woodhead
9 F. W. Oliver at Blakeney Point, about 1913
10 F. W. Oliver at Blakeney Point, July 1928
11 E. J. Salisbury at Blakeney Point in the mid-1920s
12 C. S. Elton in Bagley Wood, Oxford, 1926-7
13 Oxford University Expedition to British Guiana, 1929
14 Oxford University Expedition to British Guiana, 1929. Paul Richards's accommodation
15 V. S. Summerhayes, July 1935
16 W. B. Turrill, July 1939
17 Field course in the Chiltern beechwoods in 1938
18 Botany School, Cambridge, Cairngorms Expedition, 1938
19 H. Godwin
20 D. Lack, 1950
21 Ecology field course in Wytham Wood, Oxford, 1953
22 H. N. Southern, 1955
23 W. H. Pearsall, with R. S. Clymo and R. Knowles, June 1955
24 0. W. Richards, with J.P. Dempster, September 1963
Figures
1.1 The seven type-areas of moorland, 13
1.2 The influence of soil profiles on species distribution, 28
ix