Community concepts in plant ecology: from Humboldtian plant geography to the superorganism and beyond

Abstract

Abstract. The paper seeks to provide an introduction to, and review of, the history of concepts of the plant community. Eighteenth-century naturalists recognised that vegetation was distributed geographically and that different species of plants and animals were interconnected in what would later be called ecological relationships. It was not, however, until the early nineteenth century that the study of vegetation became a distinctive and autonomous form of scientific inquiry. Humboldt was the first to call communities of plants "associations". His programme for the empirical study of plant communities was extended by many European and North American botanists, throughout the nineteenth and into the twentieth century. There developed an almost complete consensus among ecologists that vegetation was made up of natural communities, discrete entities with real boundaries. However, there was little agreement about the nature of the putative unit or how it should be classified. Gleason advanced the alternative view that vegetation was an assemblage of individual plants, with each species being distributed according to its own physiological requirements and competitive interactions. This debate was never wholly resolved and the divergent opinions can be discerned within early ecosystem theory.

Humboldt and the reinvention of nature

“…In short, he was the first global ecologist and biogeographer, and Ernst Haeckel was thinking of Humboldt’s work when he coined the term “ecology.” Wulf’s book ( The Invention of Nature 2015) provides a vivid description of his life and his diverse influences on science and society. Stellar figures such as Henry David Thoreau, Charles Darwin, George Perkins Marsh, John Muir, Rachel Carlson, Frederic E. Clements, and Henry A. Gleason were all inspired by Humboldt (Nicolson, ; Wulf, ) and, in spreading a vision, they shaped what is today mainstream ecology—as well as the environmental movement. Humboldt was, without doubt, a great and inspiring scientist, the best naturalist of his time, and a key voice in the rise of ecological science from early naturalists.…”

“…Humboldt’s view of climate as a primary driver of vegetation distribution paved the way for ecology to focus on changes along continuous environmental gradients; and the classical works by Clements, Gleason, and Whittaker, followed that path (Nicolson, ). We have now learned that a large part of the world's vegetation has less biomass than would be expected from climate and soil alone (Bond, Woodward, & Midgley, ), and that fire and mammalian megafauna are (and have been) major natural factors maintaining low biomass systems.…”

Twentieth century vascular plant taxonomy in Portugal

“…The Instituto had a herbarium (LISI) since 1879, and it was there that the Nova Flora de Portugal was produced by João do Amaral Franco (1921, who directed the herbarium from 1969 to 1991. After Franco retired in 1991, the focus of research at LISI veered away from taxonomy and more toward vegetation science and phytosociology (Nicolson 2013). In the mid-20th century a group of agronomy students of João C. Vasconcellos (1897Vasconcellos ( -1972 at the Instituto focused on floristics (Franco 1972).…”

Challenges and opportunities for biogeography—What can we still learn from von Humboldt?

“…Yet Humboldt (1769–1859) was not only a trained botanist, he was a true polymath scholar with a career in the mining industry, expertise in geology, astronomy, anatomy, biology, languages and anthropology, and had great skills in the maintenance and invention of scientific instruments (Buttimer, ). Humboldt has been pronounced the father/godfather of many disciplines, including modern geography (Egerton, ), plant geography (Nicolson, ), rock coating research (Dorn, Krinsley, & Dirro, ) and earth system science (Clifford & Richards, ). Arguably, he was one of the first scientists to empirically observe and describe intimate links between vegetation and abiotic environmental conditions over large spatial scales and in different ecosystems (von Humboldt & Bonpland, ) and, consequently, large‐scale gradients in vegetation and environmental conditions.…”

“…Yet Humboldt (1769-1859) was not only a trained botanist, he was a true polymath scholar with a career in the mining industry, expertise in geology, astronomy, anatomy, biology, languages and anthropology, and had great skills in the maintenance and invention of scientific instruments (Buttimer, 2001). Humboldt has been pronounced the father/godfather of many disciplines, including modern geography (Egerton, 2009), plant geography (Nicolson, 2013), rock coating research (Dorn, Krinsley, & Dirro, 2011) and earth system science (Clifford & Richards, 2005).…”