A forum for botanists
Tansley founded New Phytologist in 1902 with his own money, providing a place for observations and discussion of research and teaching. He kept its scope broad and remained editor until 1931.
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Vegetation surveys and a society
British vegetation surveys and the international phytogeographical excursion he organized in 1911 encouraged researchers to examine processes behind mapped distributions. In 1913 he became the first president of the British Ecological Society.
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Organisms within a physical system
His 1935 paper, The Use and Abuse of Vegetational Concepts and Terms, challenged explanations treating a plant community as a large organism. The ecosystem concept brought plants, animals, soils and climate into a system of interacting components, rather than making vegetation alone the unit of study.
Research and nature conservation
The British Islands and Their Vegetation (1939) synthesized his work. After the Second World War he helped prepare arrangements for nature reserves, becoming the first chairman of the Nature Conservancy in 1949.
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