PRESENT STATUS 7 



ods of ecological research. He must be familiar with the various points of 

 attack in this field, and he must know the history of his subject thoroughly. 

 Erology affords the most striking example of the prevalent evil of Ameri- 

 /a.n botanical study, i. e., an indifference to, or an ignorance of the literature 

 of the subject. The trouble is much aggravated here, however, by the 

 breadth of the field, and the common assumption that a special training is 

 unnecessary, if not, indeed, superfluous. Ignorance of the important eco- 

 logical literature has been a most fertile source of crude and superficial 

 studies, a condition that will become more apparent as these fields are 

 worked again by carefully trained investigators. 



11. Descriptive ecology. The stage of development of the subject at the 

 present time may be designated as descriptive ecology, for purposes of dis- 

 cussion merely. This is concerned with the superficial description of vege- 

 tation in general terms, and results from the fact that the development has 

 begun on the surface, and has scarcely penetrated beneath it. The organic 

 connection between ecology and floristic has produced an erroneous impres- 

 sion as to the relative value of the two. Floristic has required little knowl- 

 edge, and less preparation : it lends itself with insidious ease to chance jour- 

 neys or to vacation trips, the fruits of which are found in vague descriptive 

 articles, and in the multiplication of fictitious formations. While there is 

 good reason that a record should be left of any serious reconnaissance, even 

 though it be of a few weeks' duration, the resulting lists and descriptive 

 articles can have only the most rudimentary value, and it is absurd to regard 

 them as ecological contributions at all. No statement admits of stronger 

 emphasis, and there is none that should be taken more closely to heart by 

 botanists who have supposed that they were doing ecological work. An 

 almost equally fertile source of valueless work is the independent treatment 

 of a restricted local area. The great readiness with which floristic lists 

 and descriptions can be made has led many a botanist, working in a small 

 area, or passing hurriedly through an extended region, to try his hand at 

 formation making. From this practice have resulted scores of so-called 

 formations, which are mere patches, consocies, or stages in development, 

 or which have, indeed, no existence other than in the minds of their dis- 

 coverers. The misleading definiteness which a photograph seems to give 

 a bit of vegetation has been responsible for a surplus of photographic for- 

 mations, which have no counterparts in nature. Indispensable as the photo- 

 graph is to any systematic record of vegetation, its use up to the present 

 time has but too often served to bring it into disrepute. There has been a 

 marked tendency to apply the current methods of descriptive botany to 

 vegetation, and to regard every slightly different piece of the floral covering 



