William Gardner Smith (20 March 1866 – 8 December 1928) was a Scottish

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

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 ...

who pioneered the study and mapping of the vegetation of the United Kingdom. He was a founding member of the

British Ecological Society The British Ecological Society is a learned society in the field of ecology that was founded in 1913. It is the oldest ecological society in the world. The Society's original objective was "to promote and foster the study of Ecology in its widest ...

Early life and education

Smith was born in

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

, Scotland, and educated at the University College of Dundee, where he obtained a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in botany and zoology, and at the

University of Munich The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...

, where he obtained a PhD. At Munich, Smith studied

plant pathology Plant pathology (also phytopathology) is the scientific study of diseases in plants caused by pathogens (infectious organisms) and environmental conditions (physiological factors). Organisms that cause infectious disease include fungi, oomy ...

and translated Carl von Tubeuf's ''Pflanzenkrankheiten''.

Professional career

After graduating from university, Smith taught at the

Morgan Academy Morgan Academy is a Secondary School in the Stobswell area of Dundee, Scotland. History The building was designed in 1862 by the Edinburgh architects John Dick Peddie and Charles Kinnear, opening in 1866 as the Morgan Hospital, a charitable in ...

in Dundee until 1891, when he took a demonstrator's position at the

University of Edinburgh The University of Edinburgh ( sco, University o Edinburgh, gd, Oilthigh Dhùn Èideann; abbreviated as ''Edin.'' in post-nominals) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Granted a royal charter by King James VI in 15 ...

working with

Isaac Bayley Balfour Sir Isaac Bayley Balfour, KBE, FRS, FRSE (31 March 1853 – 30 November 1922) was a Scottish botanist. He was Regius Professor of Botany at the University of Glasgow from 1879 to 1885, Sherardian Professor of Botany at the University of Oxfor ...

. From 1892 to 1893 he served as lecturer in agriculture for the County of

Forfar Forfar ( sco, Farfar, gd, Baile Fharfair) is the county town of Angus, Scotland and the administrative centre for Angus Council, with a new multi-million pound office complex located on the outskirts of the town. As of 2021, the town has a pop ...

. In 1893 he began doctoral work at Munich and in 1894 he returned to the University of Edinburgh, where he lectured in plant physiology. In 1897 he took up a position at the Yorkshire College (which became the

University of Leeds , mottoeng = And knowledge will be increased , established = 1831 – Leeds School of Medicine1874 – Yorkshire College of Science1884 - Yorkshire College1887 – affiliated to the federal Victoria University1904 – University of Leeds , ...

in 1904) and then moved to the

Edinburgh and East of Scotland College of Agriculture Scotland's Rural College (SRUC) is a public land based research institution focused on agriculture and life sciences. Its history stretches back to 1899 with the establishment of the West of Scotland Agricultural College and its current organis ...

in 1908, where he spent the remainder of his career.

Major contributions

Smith's major contributions came as a consequence of the death of his brother, Robert. Like his brother, Robert Smith had studied at Dundee, but then went on to the

University of Montpellier The University of Montpellier (french: Université de Montpellier) is a public research university located in Montpellier, in south-east of France. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the wor ...

, where he had studied under

Charles Flahault Charles Henri Marie Flahault (3 October 1852 – 3 February 1935) was a French botanist, among the early pioneers of phytogeography, phytosociology, and forest ecology. The word '' relevé'' for a plant community sample is his invention. Early l ...

, a pioneer of

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

and

phytosociology Phytosociology, also known as phytocoenology or simply plant sociology, is the study of groups of species of plant that are usually found together. Phytosociology aims to empirically describe the vegetative environment of a given territory. A spec ...

. Robert Smith adapted Flahault's sampling method to better suit Scottish vegetation and went on to pioneer vegetation mapping in the British Isles. When he died suddenly in 1900, William Smith completed his brother's unfinished manuscript and took up his own surveys of the vegetation of

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

. In 1903, together with

Charles Edward Moss Charles Edward Moss (February 7, 1870 Hyde, Cheshire – November 11, 1930 Johannesburg), was an English-born South African botanist, the youngest son of a nonconformist minister, and is noted for being the editor of the first two parts of ''Th ...

and W. Munn Rankin, he published the first vegetation maps of England. In 1904, together

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 ...

, Moss, Rankin and others, Smith established the Central Committee for the Survey and Study of British Vegetation, later renamed the British Vegetation Committee. The group set about coordinating ongoing vegetation surveys and standardising methodology between them. In 1906 the committee produced a pamphlet entitled ''Suggestions for Beginning Survey Work on Vegetation''. In 1913, the committee organised the

, the first ever professional body of ecologists. Smith served as president of the society in 1918 and 1919. After returning to Scotland in 1908, Smith worked on agricultural problems, applying an ecological approach to the management of hill pastures.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, William Gardner 1866 births 1928 deaths Scottish botanists Scottish ecologists Alumni of the University of Dundee Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich alumni People from Dundee People associated with Edinburgh Academics of the University of Edinburgh Academics of the University of Leeds