What was missing fro Tansley’s 1917 paper?

In 1917, a paper titled “On competition between Galium saxatile L. (G hercynicum Weig.) and Galium Sylvestre Poll. (G. asperum Schreb.) on different types of soil” by Arthur Tansley was published in The Journal of Plant Ecology.  This paper explored the relationship between soil types and germination rates of Galium saxatile and Galium Sylvestre.  Tansley focused on four different soil types: calcareous, garden loam, acid peat and natural sandy loam.  His method was based on planting the seeds of both species in each soil and observing germination and growth.

Results

Calcareous soil:  G. saxatile showed lower germination rates and developed chlorosis after sprouting resulting in very slow growth while G. sylvestre germinated and grew normally.  Both species died after several weeks.

Garden loam (non-calcareous):  Both species grew in this soil.  G. sylvestre began to grow faster than G. saxatile and eventually out-competed and took over the mat.

Acid peat:  Germination rates were low for both species and neither flowered the first year.  In the second year, there were few flowers of both species.  In the third year, G. saxatile grew more vigorously than G. sylvestre.

Clearly, there was an effect of competition between the two species in each type of soil.  Tansley suggested that there was direct suppression of shoots while one species grew better on a more preferable soil.  He also suggested that there was no competition within the roots.

When looking at modern papers, there are many factors which are absent in Tansley’s paper, notably statistics.  Statistics and statistical analysis are extremely important in research.  With statistics we are able to predict whether or not findings are significant and if what was observed was due to random sampling.  The absence of statistics in Tansley’s paper is mainly due to the fact that statistics were not fully understood or developed in Tansley’s time. If his research was recreated in the future, a more in-depth observation must be made including all statistical analysis in order for the findings to be considered accurate.

Tansley, A. G. (1917). On competition between Galium saxatile L.(G. hercynicum Weig.) and     Galium sylvestre Poll.(G. asperum Schreb.) on different types of soil. The Journal of            Ecology, 173-179.