The International Phytogeographic Excursions was a series of international meetings in

plant geography Phytogeography (from Greek language, Greek φυτόν, ''phytón'' = "plant" and γεωγραφία, ''geographía'' = "geography" meaning also distribution) or botanical geography is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographi ...

that significantly contributed to exchange of scientific ideas across national and linguistic barriers and also to the rise of Anglo-American plant

ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

. The initiative was taken by the British

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 ...

Arthur Tansley Sir Arthur George Tansley FLS, FRS (15 August 1871 – 25 November 1955) was an English botanist and a pioneer in the science of ecology. Educated at Highgate School, University College London and Trinity College, Cambridge, Tansley taught a ...

at the International Geographic Congress in

Geneva Geneva ( ; french: Genève ) frp, Genèva ; german: link=no, Genf ; it, Ginevra ; rm, Genevra is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland (after Zürich) and the most populous city of Romandy, the French-speaki ...

in 1908. Tansley and another early key figure,

Henry C. Cowles Henry Chandler Cowles (February 27, 1869 – September 12, 1939) was an American botanist and ecological pioneer (see History of ecology). A professor at the University of Chicago, he studied ecological succession in the Indiana Dunes of Northwes ...

, were both much-inspired by the new 'ecological plant geography' introduced by

Eugenius Warming Eugenius (died 6 September 394) was a usurper in the Western Roman Empire (392–394) against Emperor Theodosius I. While Christian himself, Eugenius capitalized on the discontent in the West caused by Theodosius' religious policies targeting p ...

and its quest for answering why-questions about plant distribution, as opposed to the traditional, merely descriptive 'floristic plant geography'. The First International Phytogeographic Excursion was held in the

British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isles, ...

in 1911. It was organized by

and went through parts of

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

and

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

. The participants were: * Eduard Rübel,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

* Carl Schroeter, Switzerland * Oscar Drude,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

Paul Graebner Carl Otto Robert Peter Paul Graebner (29 June 1871 in Aplerbeck – 6 February 1933 in Berlin) was a German botanist. In 1895 he obtained his doctorate in Berlin, successively working as an assistant and then as curator (1904) at the botanical ga ...

, Germany * C.A.M. Lindman,

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

*G. Claridge Druce,

Jean Massart Jean Massart (7 March 1865 in Etterbeek – 16 August 1925) was a Belgian botanist. Biography In 1894 he earned his PhD from the University of Brussels, where later in his career he worked as a professor. From 1902 to 1906 he was curator of the ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

* C.H. Ostenfeld,

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Frederic Clements Frederic Edward Clements (September 16, 1874 – July 26, 1945) was an American plant ecologist and pioneer in the study of plant ecology and vegetation succession. Biography Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, he studied botany at the University of Nebra ...

, U.S.A. *

, U.S.A., who gave a brief report in

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

in 1913. The Second International Phytogeographic Excursion was a travel across

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

from July to September 1913. It was hosted by a number of American

ecologist Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

s led by

. The participants were: *

, U.S.A. *

, U.S.A. * Edith S. Clements, U.S.A. *

Alfred Dachnowsky Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

, U.S.A. * George Fuller, U.S.A. * George E. Nichols, U.S.A. *

Willis Linn Jepson Willis Linn Jepson (August 19, 1867 – November 7, 1946) was an early California botanist, conservationist, and writer. Career Born at Little Oak Ranch near Vacaville, California, Jepson became interested in botany as a boy and explore ...

, U.S.A. * Heinrich Brockmann-Jerosch, Switzerland * Marie Charlotte Brockmann-Jerosch, Switzerland *

Ove Paulsen Ove Vilhelm Paulsen (22 March 1874 – 29 April 1947) was a Danish botanist. Biography Paulsen was born at Aarhus, Denmark. He studied at the University of Copenhagen under professor Eugen Warming (1841-1924). Paulsen was a keeper at the Bota ...

, Denmark *

Carl Skottsberg Carl Johan Fredrik Skottsberg (1 December 1880 – 14 June 1963) was a Swedish botanist and explorer of Antarctica. Life Skottsberg was born in Karlshamn on 1 December 1880 the son of Carl Adolf Skottsberg a schoolmaster and his wife, Maria L ...

, Sweden * Eduard Rübel, Switzerland *

Karl von Tubeuf Carl or Karl von Tubeuf FLS H FRSE (20 January 1862, in Amorbach, Bavaria – 8 February 1941, in Munich, Germany) was a German forestry scientist, mycologist and plant pathologist. He introduced both the term biological control and the ...

, Germany * Carl Schroeter, Switzerland * Theodoor J. Stomps,

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

, England *

Adolf Engler Heinrich Gustav Adolf Engler (25 March 1844 – 10 October 1930) was a German botanist. He is notable for his work on alpha taxonomy, plant taxonomy and phytogeography, such as ''Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien'' (''The Natural Plant Families'' ...

, Germany * Cecil Crampton,

. The Third International Phytogeographic Excursion was proposed in 1915, but postponed due to the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. It was finally carried through in 1923 in neutral

, and as noted by

John William Harshberger John William Harshberger, (January 1, 1869 – April 27, 1929) was an American botanist who specialized in plant geography, ecology and plant pathology. He taught at the University of Pennsylvania for more than 35 years. He was an ardent plant con ...

is his report in

Ecology Ecology () is the study of the relationships between living organisms, including humans, and their physical environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere level. Ecology overlaps wi ...

, the participants from

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and other nations recently at war, coexisted peacefully. The organizers were the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

s Rübel, Schroeter and H. Brockmann-Jerosch. The participants were, among others: *

Gustaf Einar Du Rietz Gustaf Einar Du Rietz (1895–1967) was a Swedish lichenologist and ecologist. He was part of a Swedish Australasian Botanical Expedition to New Zealand in 1926 to study lichens in New Zealand along with his wife Greta Sernander-Du Rietz, who was ...

, Sweden *

, U.S.A. * Jens Holmboe, Norway * Huguet del Villar, Spain *

Kaarlo Linkola Kaarlo Linkola (surname until 1906 Collan; 1888–1942) was a Finnish botanist and phytogeographer. Linkola was docent of botany at Helsinki University 1919–1922. He was professor of botany at University of Turku from 1922, and at Helsinki ...

, Finland *

Hugo Osvald Hugo Osvald (1892–1970) was a Swedish botanist and plant ecologist specialized on mire ecology, Sphagnum and peat Peat (), also known as turf (), is an accumulation of partially decayed vegetation or organic matter. It is unique to natur ...

, Sweden *

, Denmark *

Robert Lloyd Praeger Robert Lloyd Praeger (25 August 1865 – 5 May 1953) was an Irish naturalist, writer and librarian. Biography From a Unitarian background, he was born and raised in Holywood, County Down. He attended the school of the Reverend McAlister and t ...

, Ireland * Constantin von Regel,

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

* Edward Salisbury, England *

, Sweden *

Władysław Szafer Prof Władysław Szafer PAS HFRSE (July 23, 1886 – November 16, 1970) was a Polish botanist, palaeobotanist, quaternary geologist and professor of botany at the Jagiellonian University in Kraków. He was a world pioneer in nature conservation ...

, Poland * Heinrich Brockmann-Jerosch, Switzerland * Marie Charlotte Brockmann-Jerosch, Switzerland * Eduard Rübel, Switzerland * Carl Schroeter, Switzerland *

Josias Braun-Blanquet Josias Braun-Blanquet (3 August 1884 – 20 September 1980) was an influential phytosociologist and botanist. Braun-Blanquet was born in Chur, Switzerland and died in Montpellier, France. Biography Work In Josias Braun-Blanquet's dissertation, s ...

, Switzerland *

Paul Jaccard Paul Jaccard (18 November 1868 in Sainte-Croix, Switzerland, Sainte-Croix – 9 May 1944 in Zurich) was a professor of botany and plant physiology at the ETH Zurich. He studied at the University of Lausanne and ETH Zurich (PhD 1894). He continued s ...

, Switzerland The Fourth International Phytogeographic Excursion was held in Scandinavia in 1925 (July 2 to August 24). It formed as a trip through Sweden and Norway starting in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

in southernmost

, passing

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Uppsala Uppsala (, or all ending in , ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the county seat of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inha ...

and

Abisko Abisko (; se, Ábeskovvu) is a village in Sápmi (Lapland (Sweden), Lapland), in northern Sweden, roughly 250 km within the Arctic Circle, and near Abisko National Park, located 4 km west of the village. It had 85 inhabitants as of 20 ...

, going down through Norway, ending in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. It was organized by G. Einar Du Rietz from

Uppsala University Uppsala University ( sv, Uppsala universitet) is a public university, public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the List of universities in Sweden, oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in opera ...

. By this time, Warmings 'ecological plant geography' had developed into

plant ecology Plant ecology is a subdiscipline of ecology which studies the distribution and abundance of plants, the effects of environmental factors upon the abundance of plants, and the interactions among and between plants and other organisms. Examples o ...

and the excursion programme returned to 'floristic plant geography'. Through the 1930s and after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the International Phytogeographic Excursions continued at regular intervals, but now outside the mainstream of

. At the same time, scientific exchange between plant ecologists had found other means. The Fifth International Phytogeographic Excursion was held in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

in 1928. It was organized by

Karel Domin Karel Domin (4 May 1882, Kutná Hora, Kingdom of Bohemia – 10 June 1953, Prague) was a Czech botanist and politician. After gymnasium school studies in Příbram, he studied botany at the Charles University in Prague ) , image_name = C ...

. The Sixth International Phytogeographic Excursion was held in

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...

in 1931. The Seventh International Phytogeographic Excursion was held in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

in 1934. The Eighth International Phytogeographic Excursion went to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

and western

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

in 1936. * 1949

(9th excursion) * 1953 Spain (10th excursion) * 1956 Eastern

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

(11th excursion) * 1958

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

(12th excursion) * 1961 Finland and North

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

* 1966

French Alps The French Alps are the portions of the Alps mountain range that stand within France, located in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur regions. While some of the ranges of the French Alps are entirely in France, others, such as ...

, Switzerland, Eastern

Pyrenees The Pyrenees (; es, Pirineos ; french: Pyrénées ; ca, Pirineu ; eu, Pirinioak ; oc, Pirenèus ; an, Pirineus) is a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. It extends nearly from its union with the Cantabrian Mountains to C ...

* 1970 Western

(14th excursion) * 1971 mainland

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and

Crete Crete ( el, Κρήτη, translit=, Modern: , Ancient: ) is the largest and most populous of the Greek islands, the 88th largest island in the world and the fifth largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after Sicily, Sardinia, Cyprus, and ...

(15th excursion) * 1978 U.S.A. (16th excursion) * 1983

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

(17th excursion) * 1984

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

* 1989 Poland (19th excursion) Zarzycki, K., Landolt, E. & Wojcicki, J.J. (eds) (1991-1992) Contributions to the knowledge of flora and vegetation of Poland: proceedings of the 19th International Phytogeographic Excursion (IPE), 1989, through Poland, vol. 1-2. Veröffentlichungen des Geobotanischen Institutes der ETH, Stiftung Rübel, Zürich, 106-107

References

{{authority control Botany Ecology organizations History of biology