Arthur G. Tansley was a British botanist who first used the term “ecosystem” in a scientific publiction (1935). Apparently, the term had been coined already in 1930 by Tansley's colleague Roy Clapham, who was asked if he could think of a suitable word to denote the physical and biological components of an environment considered in relation to each other as a unit. Tansley was a pioneer in the science of plant ecology. He coordinated a large project to map the vegetation of the British Isles; in 1939 he published The British Isles and Their Vegetation. Tansley was instrumental in the formation of organizations devoted to the study of ecology and the protection of wildlife.

Sources

• Cleveland, Cutler (Lead Author); Peter Saundry (Topic Editor). 2009. "Tansley, Arthur G.." In: Encyclopedia of Earth. Eds. Cutler J. Cleveland (Washington, D.C.: Environmental Information Coalition, National Council for Science and the Environment). [First published in the Encyclopedia of Earth March 9, 2007; Last revised January 17, 2009; Retrieved September 2, 2009]. <http://www.eoearth.org/article/Tansley,_Arthur_G.>