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{{short description|English botanist and pioneer in ecology}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2012}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name              = Sir Arthur Tansley
| image             = Arthur-Tansley-1893.jpg
| image_size        =
| alt               = 
| caption           = Arthur Tansley in the 1890s
| birth_name        = Arthur George Tansley
| birth_date        = {{Birth date|1871|08|15|df=y}}
| birth_place       = [[London]], England
| death_date        = {{death date and age |1955|11|25 |1871|08|15 |df=yes}}
| death_place       = [[Grantchester]], England
| residence         = 
| notable_students  = [[Alexander Watt]]
| known_for         = ''[[New Phytologist]]'', [[British Ecological Society]], [[Ecosystem]] concept
| author_abbrev_bot = 
| author_abbrev_zoo = 
| awards            = [[Linnean Medal]] {{small|(1941)}}<br>[[Fellow of the Royal Society]]<ref name="frs"/>
| spouse            = Edith, Lady Tansley ({{nee}} Chick) 
}}

'''Sir Arthur George Tansley''' [[Linnean Society of London|FLS]], [[Fellow of the Royal Society|FRS]]<ref name="frs">{{Cite journal | last1 = Godwin | first1 = H. | author-link = Harry Godwin| doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1957.0016 | title = Arthur George Tansley. 1871–1955 | journal = [[Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society]] | volume = 3 | pages =  227–246| year = 1957 | jstor = 769363| doi-access = free }}</ref> (15 August 1871 – 25 November 1955) was an [[England|English]] [[botanist]] and a pioneer in the science of [[ecology]].<ref name = "Cooper">{{Cite journal | last1 = Cooper | first1 = W. S. | title = Sir Arthur Tansley and the Science of Ecology | journal = Ecology | volume = 38 | issue = 4 | pages = 658–659 | doi = 10.2307/1943136 | year = 1957 | jstor = 1943136 | bibcode = 1957Ecol...38..658C }}</ref>

Educated at [[Highgate School]], [[University College London]] and [[Trinity College, Cambridge]], Tansley taught at these universities and at [[University of Oxford|Oxford]], where he served as [[Sherardian Professor of Botany]] until his retirement in 1937. Tansley founded the ''[[New Phytologist]]'' in 1902 and served as its editor until 1931.<ref name="frs"/> He was a pioneer of the science of [[ecology]] in Britain, being heavily influenced by the work of Danish botanist [[Eugenius Warming]],<ref name = "history">{{Cite journal | last1 = Tansley | first1 = A. G. | author-link = Arthur Tansley| title = The Early History of Modern Plant Ecology in Britain | journal = Journal of Ecology | volume = 35 | issue = 1 | pages = 130–137 | doi = 10.2307/2256503 | year = 1947 | jstor = 2256503 | bibcode = 1947JEcol..35..130T }}</ref> and introduced the concept of the [[ecosystem]] into biology.<ref name = "Willis1997"/> Tansley was a founding member of the first professional society of ecologists, the Central Committee for the Survey and Study of British Vegetation, which later organised the [[British Ecological Society]], and served as its first president and founding editor of the ''[[Journal of Ecology]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Godwin | first1 = H. | title = Sir Arthur George Tansley, F. R. S. 1871–1955 | journal = Journal of Ecology | volume = 46 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–8 | year = 1958 | jstor = 2256899 }}</ref><ref name = "Godwin1977">{{Cite journal | last1 = Godwin | first1 = H. | title = Sir Arthur Tansley: The Man and the Subject: The Tansley Lecture, 1976 | journal = Journal of Ecology | volume = 65 | issue = 1 | pages = 1–26 | doi = 10.2307/2259059 | year = 1977 | jstor = 2259059 | bibcode = 1977JEcol..65....1G }}</ref> Tansley also served as the first chairman of the British [[Nature Conservancy (UK)|Nature Conservancy]].<ref name = "Cooper"/>

Tansley was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]] in 1915, and knighted in 1950.<ref name="Timeline">{{cite web|url=http://www.newphytologist.org/contentpages/index/13|title=Major events in the life of Arthur Tansley|publisher=New Phytologist Trust|access-date=19 March 2012}}</ref>

The ''New Phytologist'' publishes regular Tansley Reviews, while the New Phytologist Trust awards a Tansley Medal, both named in his honour.<ref>{{Cite journal 
| last1 = Ian Woodward | first1 = F. 
| last2 = Hetherington | first2 = A. M. 
| doi = 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03247.x 
| title = The New Phytologist Tansley Medal 
| journal = New Phytologist 
| volume = 186 
| issue = 2 
| pages = 263–264 
| year = 2010 
| pmid = 20409180 
| doi-access = free 
| bibcode = 2010NewPh.186..263I 
}}</ref>

==Early life and education==
Tansley was born in [[London]] to businessman George Tansley<ref name = "Godwin1977"/> and his wife Amelia. Although a successful businessman, George Tansley's passion had been education after he started attending classes at the [[Working Men's College]] when he was 19. George Tansley later went on to be a volunteer teacher, retiring from his business in 1884 to dedicate himself to teaching at the college. He married Amelia Lawrence in 1863 and had two children – the older a daughter,<ref name="frs"/> Maud,<ref name = "Ayres">{{Cite book|title=Shaping ecology : the life of Arthur Tansley|last=Ayres|first=Peter|date=2012|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|others=Wiley InterScience (Online service)|isbn=9781118290927|location=Chichester, West Sussex, UK|oclc=804860745}}</ref>{{Rp|2}} followed by Arthur seven years later, in 1871.<ref name="frs" />

Tansley's interest in science was sparked by one of his father's fellow volunteer-teachers, who was described as "an excellent and enthusiastic field botanist". After attending preparatory school from the ages of 12 to 15, he enrolled in [[Highgate School]]. Unhappy with the science teaching, which he considered "farcically inadequate", he switched to University College London in 1889<ref name="frs" /> and studied at the faculty of Biological science,{{Citation needed|date=December 2018}} where he was heavily influenced by [[Ray Lankester]] and [[Francis Wall Oliver|F. W. Oliver]]. In 1890 Tansley attended [[Trinity College, Cambridge]]. After completing Part I of [[Tripos]] in 1893, he returned to University College London as an assistant to Oliver, a position he retained until 1907. In 1894 he returned to Cambridge and completed Part II of Tripos,<ref name="frs"/> and received a degree with first class honours.<ref name="Ayres" />{{Rp|44}}

==Professional career==
Tansley taught and conducted research at University College London from 1893 until 1907.<ref name = "Anker">{{Cite book|title=Imperial ecology : environmental order in the British Empire, 1895-1945|last=Peder.|first=Anker|date=2001|publisher=Harvard University Press|isbn=9780674020221|location=Cambridge, Mass.|oclc=435528688}}</ref>{{Rp|12–13}} In 1907 he took a Lecturer position at the [[University of Cambridge]].<ref name="frs"/> During the First World War, with very little teaching going on at the university, Tansley took a position as a clerk<ref name = "Godwin1977"/> with the Ministry of Munitions.<ref name = "Cameron">{{Cite journal | last1 = Tansley | first1 = A. G. | author-link = Arthur Tansley| title = Sigmund Freud. 1856–1939 | doi = 10.1098/rsbm.1941.0002 | journal = [[Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society]]| volume = 3 | issue = 9 | pages =  246–275| year = 1941 | jstor = 768889| s2cid = 163056149 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Cameron | first1 = Laura | last2 = Forrestor | first2 = John| title = 'A nice type of the English scientist': Tansley and Freud | doi = 10.1093/hwj/1999.48.64 | journal = History Workshop Journal | volume = 1999 | issue = 48 | pages =  64–100| year = 1999 }}</ref> In 1923 he resigned his position at Cambridge and spent a year in [[Vienna]] studying psychology under [[Sigmund Freud]].<ref name="frs" /> When he returned to Britain in 1924 Tansley was appointed acting chairman of the British Empire Vegetation Committee.<ref name="Anker" />{{Rp|32}} After four years away from a formal academic position in botany, Tansley was appointed [[Sherardian Professor of Botany]] at the University of Oxford in 1927, where he remained until his retirement in 1937.<ref name="frs"/>

==Major contributions==
Tansley's early publications focused on [[palaeobotany]], especially [[Fern#Evolution and classification|fern evolution]].<ref name="frs"/> Tansley founded the botany journal ''[[New Phytologist]]'' in 1902 to serve as "a medium of easy communication and discussion between British botanists on all matters . . . including methods of teaching and research". It was named after ''[[The Phytologist]]'', a botanical magazine published between 1842 and 1863.<ref name="NewPhytologist">{{cite web| url=http://www.newphytologist.org/contentpages/index/9| title=Tansley and the ''New Phytologist''| publisher=New Phytologist Trust| access-date=22 March 2012}}</ref> In establishing this journal, Tansley's aim was to provide a venue for the publication of "notes and suggestions"; existing botanical journals only published records of completed research.<ref name = "Godwin1977"/> He remained editor of the journal until 1931.<ref name="NewPhytologist"/>

Tansley's introduction to ecology came in 1898 when he read Warming's ''[[Plantesamfund]]'' (in its German translation, ''Lehrbuch der ökologischen Pflanzengeographie''). Reading the book provoked him to "[go] out into the field to see how far one could match the plant communities Warming had described for Denmark in the English countryside". In 1903 he learned of the work done by the Smith brothers in mapping the vegetation of Scotland and Yorkshire. The work was initiated by Robert Smith and continued by his brother, [[William Gardner Smith (botanist)|William Gardner Smith]] (in conjunction with [[Charles Edward Moss]]) after Robert's death.<ref name = "history"/> In 1904 Tansley suggested the formation of a central body for the systematic survey and mapping of the British Isles. This led to the establishment of the Central Committee for the Survey and Study of British Vegetation by Tansley, Moss, William Smith and [[Thomas Woodhead|T. W. Woodhead]],<ref name = "Cooper"/> with the support of Marcel Hardy, F. J. Lewis, Lloyd Praeger and W. M. Rankin. These eight formed the original committee,<ref name = "history"/> with Tansley as its leader.<ref name = "Cooper"/> F. W. Oliver later joined the group as its ninth member. The name of the group was later shortened to the British Vegetation Committee. The aim of the group was to coordinate ongoing studies and standardise the methodology being used. The committee met twice more in 1905 and produced a six-page pamphlet, ''Suggestions for Beginning Survey Work on Vegetation''.<ref name = "history"/>

In 1911 Tansley, in conjunction with the British Vegetation Committee, organised the first [[International Phytogeographic Excursion]] (IPE).<ref name = "history"/> He was inspired by a plant geography tour of Switzerland organised by Swiss botanist [[Carl Joseph Schröter|Carl Schröter]] in 1908, which introduced him not only to vegetation types, but also to botanists from other countries. The connections made between Tansley and American ecologists [[Henry Chandler Cowles]] and [[Frederic Clements]] helped build a philosophical and methodological link between British and American plant ecology.<ref name = "Cooper"/> Other attendees included Schröter, Swedish botanist [[Carl Axel Magnus Lindman|Carl Lindman]], and German botanists [[Carl Georg Oscar Drude|Oscar Drude]] and [[Karl Otto Robert Peter Paul Graebner|Paul Graebner]]. Tansley's book ''Types of British Vegetation'' was prepared with an eye to serving as a guide to the vegetation for the attendees of the first IPE.<ref name = "history"/> The second IPE in 1913 was hosted by Cowles. This brought Tansley to America.<ref name = "Cooper"/>

In 1913, the British Vegetation Committee organised the [[British Ecological Society]] (BES), the first-ever professional society of ecologists. Tansley served as its first president, and was first editor of the ''[[Journal of Ecology]]'', a position he held for 21 years.<ref name = "Cooper"/> In 1915 he was elected a [[Fellow of the Royal Society]], and in 1923 he was elected president of the Botanical Section of the [[British Association for the Advancement of Science]]. At the [[Imperial Botanical Congress]] in 1924 he was appointed chairman of the British Empire Vegetation Committee. He served as president of the BES a second time in 1938.<ref name="Timeline"/>

[[William Skinner Cooper|William S. Cooper]] considered Tansley's most influential publications synthesised individual studies into a whole.<ref name = "Cooper"/> In 1935 Tansley published "The use and abuse of vegetational terms and concepts"<ref name = "Tansley1935">{{Cite journal | doi = 10.2307/1930070 | author = Tansley, AG | year = 1935 | title = The use and abuse of vegetational terms and concepts| journal = Ecology | volume = 16 | issue =  3| pages = 284–307 | jstor =  1930070 }}</ref> in which he introduced the [[ecosystem]] concept.<ref group="fn">The term ecosystem was actually coined by [[Arthur Roy Clapham]], who came up with the word at Tansley's request. (Willis 1997)</ref><ref name = "Willis1997">{{cite journal|last=Willis|first=A.J.|year=1997|title=The Ecosystem: An Evolving Concept Viewed Historically|journal=Functional Ecology|volume=11|issue=2|pages=268–271|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2435.1997.00081.x|doi-access=}}</ref> In the 1930s ecological thinking was dominated by the work of Clements, who thought of [[community (ecology)|ecological communities]] as organisms, and [[association (ecology)|associations]] as [[superorganism]]s.<ref name = "Willis1997"/> Tansley questioned the concept by proposing the idea that ecological communities could be regarded as quasi-organisms <ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ampatzidis |first1=Georgios |last2=Ergazaki |first2=Marida |date=2023-03-16 |title=Using the History of the Super-Organismic-Plant-Community Concept To Help Students Understand the Nature of Science |journal=Science & Education |volume=33 |issue=5 |pages=1097–1116 |language=en |doi=10.1007/s11191-023-00433-8 |issn=1573-1901|doi-access=free |bibcode=2024Sc&Ed..33.1097A }}</ref> and he devised it to draw attention to the importance of transfers of materials between organisms and their environment,<ref name = "Chapin">{{cite book|last=Chapin|first=F. Stuart|author2=Pamela A. Matson|author3= Harold A. Mooney|title=Principles of Terrestrial Ecosystem Ecology|publisher=Springer|location=New York|year=2002|isbn=0-387-95443-0}}</ref> regarding ecosystems as the basic units of nature.<ref name = "Willis1997"/>{{cquote|Though the organisms may claim our prime interest, when we are trying to think fundamentally, we cannot separate them from their special environments, with which they form one physical system.<ref name = "Tansley1935"/>}}
Tansley's interest in teaching led to the production of the ''Elements of Plant Ecology'' in 1922, which was followed by ''Practical Plant Ecology'' in 1923 and ''Aims and methods in the study of vegetation'' in 1926, coauthored with [[Thomas Ford Chipp]].<ref name = "Cooper"/> The last book, edited for the British Empire Vegetation Committee, was extremely influential not just in defining ecological methods but in highlighting the need for a complete inventory of the empire's "vegetational assets". With this information, it would be possible to efficiently manage the vast natural resources of the empire.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KVMD0WoUwn4C&pg=PA144 |page=144 |title=Triumph of the expert: Agrarian doctrines of development and the legacies of British colonialism |author=Joseph Morgan Hodge |publisher=Ohio University Press |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-8214-1718-8}}</ref> Tansley's most comprehensive work, ''The British Islands and Their Vegetation'' was published in 1939. Volume 2 was published in 1949.<ref>Sir Arthur George Tansley {{google books|Dis8AAAAIAAJ|The British Islands and Their Vegetation, Volume 2 (1949)}}</ref> In recognition of this achievement, he was awarded the [[Linnean Medal]] in 1941.<ref name = "Cooper"/>

During the Second World War Tansley became committed to [[habitat conservation|conservation]], and this continued through post-war reconstruction. He chaired a committee of the BES that formulated a policy on [[nature reserve]]s and led to the formation of the [[Nature Conservancy (UK)|Nature Conservancy]],<ref name = "Cooper"/> which he also chaired.<ref name="Timeline"/> Tansley's conservation work was the basis cited for his knighthood in 1950.<ref name = "Cooper"/>

Tansley was introduced to [[psychology]] by a former student, [[Bernard Hart]], who worked as a doctor in mental hospitals near London.  While working for the Ministry of Munitions during the First World War, he had a dream which was described as "one of the major turning points in his life" – from this dream came Tansley's interest in Freud and [[psychoanalysis]].<ref name = "Cameron"/> In 1920 he published ''The New Psychology and its Relation to Life'', one of the first books that attempted to introduce the ideas of Freud and [[Carl Jung]] to a general audience. The book was a bestseller, selling 10,000 copies in the United Kingdom and 4,000 in the United States. In 1922 Tansley spent three months with Freud, and the following year he moved his family to Vienna for a year. Although he later returned to botanical pursuits, Tansley remained in contact with Freud and wrote his obituary.<ref name = "Cameron"/> Research by Peder Anker has suggested a close theoretical relationship between Tansley's ecology and his psychology.<ref name = "Anker"/>

==Personal life==
[[File:The Tansley Stone, Kingley Vale. - geograph.org.uk - 1503536.jpg|thumb|Memorial plaque at [[Kingley Vale National Nature Reserve]].<ref name = "Ayres"/>]]
In 1903 Tansley married Edith Chick, a former student with whom he coauthored two papers.<ref name="frs"/> They had three daughters–Katharine, [[Margaret Tomlinson]] and Helen. Lady Edith Tansley died in 1970,<ref name="Timeline"/> at age 100.

Tansley was an atheist.<ref>"They became correspondents and, surprisingly since Tansley was an avowed atheist, friends." - Peter G. Ayres, Shaping Ecology: The Life of Arthur Tansley, page 139.</ref>

==See also==
* [[Hugh M. Raup]]

==Notes==
{{reflist|group=fn}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Other sources==
* Lack, A. (2012). "Peter G. Ayres: Shaping ecology: the life of Arthur Tansley". ''Journal of Insect Conservation'', July.

==External links==
{{wikisource|works=or}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=Arthur Tansley}}
* [http://www.wku.edu/~smithch/chronob/TANS1871.htm Arthur Tansley]
* [http://www.westsussex.info/tansley-stone.shtml The Tansley Stone – memorial to Tansley in Sussex]

{{Botanist|Tansley|Tansley, Arthur}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tansley, Arthur}}
[[Category:English ecologists]]
[[Category:People educated at Highgate School]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Royal Society]]
[[Category:1871 births]]
[[Category:1955 deaths]]
[[Category:English botanists]]
[[Category:Sherardian Professors of Botany]]
[[Category:Analysands of Sigmund Freud]]
[[Category:English atheists]]
[[Category:Presidents of the British Ecological Society]]