Ecology and the methods of writing a scientific paper have evolved over the last few centuries and it’s worth juxtaposing the methods from then and now to see what’s changed and what’s remained the same. This can be seen looking at the 1917 paper “Competition between Galium saxatile and Galium Sylvestre Poll” written by Sir George Arthur Tansley pictured below.
Tansley’s paper documents the competition between Galium saxatile and Galium sylvestre, two closely related plant species, when placed in varying soil conditions; acidic peats, calcareous soil, and sandy loam. He concluded that Galium sylvestre grew the best in calcareous soil and worst in acidic peats while Galium saxatile opposed this and grew best in acidic peats and had little growth in calcareous soil. Sandy loam was the most inefficient soil of the three, as there was no growth observed in either species. This experiment demonstrated that in contrasting soil types, the success of one species was dependent on the failure of the other.
Although Tansley provided some numerical data like mean and range, he failed to provide any sort of statistical analysis. The T-test was invented in 1908 by William Sealy Gosset and used to determine if two sets of data are significantly different from each other. Statistical analysis tests existed at the time of Tansley’s experiment but perhaps they weren’t as widespread or too complex to understand. Thanks to today’s digital age, performing a statistical analysis can be easily done using computer software. Regardless of the reason it isn’t present in his report, the lack of statistical analysis makes Tansley’s work seem less credible and reliable. He also fails to provide clear methodology which would make it difficult for anyone trying to replicate his experiment.
Statistical analysis has become widespread and as the field of ecology continues to evolve it is necessary we have this analysis to sift out which experiments are credible and significant.
References
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.
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 
