Marcel-Henri Gaussen (14 July 1891 in

Cabrières-d'Aigues Cabrières-d'Aigues (; Provençal dialect, Provençal: ''Cabrièras d'Egues'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Vaucluse Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in southeastern France. ...

( Vaucluse) - 27 July 1981 in Toulouse), was a French

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

and biogeographer. In 1926, he defended his thesis on "the vegetation of the eastern half of the Pyrenees", which laid the foundation for future work on the border between

biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species and ecosystems in geographic space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities often vary in a regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, ...

and vegetation mapping. Gaussen was an early advocate of the ideas of stages and vegetation succession, which are fundamental to phytogeography. His work allowed for the production of a vegetation map of France at a scale of 1/200 000 (completed after his death by the service of the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

, but which he had created and directed) and many similar projects in other countries. His work led to many advanced phytogeographic tools such as the xerothermic or Gaussen Index, and the "". As recognition for his scientific work in mapping of vegetation cover and ecology, he received the Grand Prix of the

Geographical Society This is a list of geographical societies International * EUGEO-Association of Geographical Societies in Europe * European Geography Association * EUROGEO-European Association of Geographers *Gamma Theta Upsilon *International Geographical Union *W ...

for geographical research and publications in 1971. He was also responsible for the creation of the

Arboretum de Jouéou The Arboretum de Jouéou (1.9 hectares), also known as the Arboretum Henri Gaussen, is an arboretum located on the Route de l'Hospice de France in Bagnères-de-Luchon, Haute-Garonne, Midi-Pyrénées, France. It is open daily. The arboretum was cr ...

in 1922, and for the strength and reputation of teaching and research in botany at the University of Toulouse. A great traveller, he was also the creator of a science section at the French Institute of Pondicherry. He worked with Flora Europaea as a regional adviser for France. Henri Gaussen spent his entire career as a professor at Toulouse, where he was also in 1958 elected as a "" (council member) of the

Académie des Jeux floraux The Consistori del Gay Saber (; "Consistory of the Gay Science") was a poetic academy founded at Toulouse in 1323 to revive and perpetuate the lyric poetry of the troubadours. Also known as the Acadèmia dels Jòcs Florals or Académie des Jeux ...

. Having accumulated an impressive number of personal photographs, he donated his collection to the archives of the department of Haute-Garonne, where they can still be viewed.

Principal publications

* * (222 pages, 8 maps and figures) * * * * *

Eponymy

; genus: * ( Podocarpaceae) '' Gaussenia'' A.V.Bobrov & Melikyan ; Species: * ( Aizoaceae) '' Opophytum gaussenii'' ( Leredde) H.Jacobsen ex Greuter & Burdet * ( Araliaceae) ''

Brassaiopsis ''Brassaiopsis'' is a genus of shrubs in the family Araliaceae. There are about 45 species, distributed in Asia from the Himalaya through China, Vietnam, Thailand to Indonesia. Species Species include: *''Brassaiopsis aculeata'' (Buch.-Ham. ex D ...

gaussenii'' Bui * ( Asteraceae) '' Leontodon gaussenii'' Sennen * ( Campanulaceae) ''

Phyteuma ''Phyteuma'' is a genus of flowering plants in the family Campanulaceae, native to Europe and Morocco. The common name is rampion, a name shared with the related plant ''Campanula rapunculus''. Rampion features prominently in some versions of t ...

gaussenii'' Chouard * (

Cupressaceae Cupressaceae is a conifer family, the cypress family, with worldwide distribution. The family includes 27–30 genera (17 monotypic), which include the junipers and redwoods, with about 130–140 species in total. They are monoecious, subdio ...

) '' Juniperus gaussenii'' Cheng * ( Elaeocarpaceae) ''

Elaeocarpus gaussenii ''Elaeocarpus gaussenii'' is a critically endangered species of flowering plant in the Elaeocarpaceae family. It is found only in the Western Ghats of Tamil Nadu, India. It is threatened by habitat loss Habitat destruction (also termed ...

'' Weibel * ( Moraceae) '' Dorstenia gaussenii'' J.Troch. & Koechl. * ( Pinaceae) ''

Pseudotsuga ''Pseudotsuga'' is a genus of evergreen coniferous trees in the family Pinaceae (subfamily Laricoideae). Common names for species in the genus include Douglas fir, Douglas-fir, Douglas tree, Oregon pine and Bigcone spruce. '' Pseudotsuga menz ...

gaussenii'' Flous * ( Podocarpaceae) '' Afrocarpus gaussenii'' ( Woltz) C.N.PageNotes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 45(2): 384. 1989 (IK) * ( Ulmaceae) '' Ulmus gaussenii'' W. C. ChengFu, L. & Jin J. (eds). (1992). ''China Red Data Book. Rare and endangered plants. Vol. 1''. Science Press, Beijing

Honours

* The Henri Gaussen Prize :Presented by the ''Académie des sciences, inscriptions et belles-lettres de Toulouse'', this prize is awarded annually for a scientific work on the Pyrenees mountain range. * The City of Toulouse honours him with the ''Boulevard Henri Gaussen'', in the Minimes quarter.

External links

village of Miglos in the Ariege, Castle Miglos. Photos from the Henri Gaussen database
see also

Miglos Miglos is a commune in the Ariège department in southwestern France. Geography It is located in the former High Ariege in the High County Foix, Sabarthès. The valley opens to the northwest Vicdessos valley at Capoulet, and to the south it ...

Stages and vegetation zones of France, Gaussen, 1938.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gaussen, Henri Biogeographers 20th-century French botanists French ecologists 1891 births 1981 deaths