A question was posed of which of the species of Gallum grew better. This was formulated in refined title that became came known today as “Competition between Galium saxtile and Galium Sylvestre Poll “. This entailed in observing the shoot and root growth of the species in multiple soils. The soils that would studied are calcareous, non – calcareous, acid peat and sandy loam.
Sir Arthur George Tansley would use the data acquired from the original experimental procedure, to compare the lengths to understand how and what competition existed between these plants. From this data it was concluded that G. Sylvestre grew well in calcareous soil, and considerably well in non-calcareous soil. In the non-calcareous soil the G. saxtile grew slowly but surpassed the G. Sylvestre in the end, also in calcareous soil the G. saxtile grew a bit, but was restricted due to chlorinosis. In the sandy loamy soil no growth was observed in either species.
In this secondary report there are some statistical measures available such ass the mean and the range but not to the extent in today scientific reports such as, the t-test, variance, standard deviation. This was not included in the report at the time as the statistics although present had not made its way into scientific literature. It would later be introduced at later date. After statistics had assimilated itself into scientific research its value would be recognised allowing to make sense of large “chunks” of data, which would be appreciated for years to come.
Tansley, A. G. “On Competition Between Galium Saxatile L. (G. Hercynicum Weig.) and Galium Sylvestre Poll. (G. Asperum Schreb.) On Different Types of Soil.” Journal of Ecology, vol. 5, no. 3/4, 1917, pp. 173–179. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/2255655. Accessed 27 Feb. 2020.CopyAPA
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 