Marcel-Henri Gaussen (14 July 1891 in

Cabrières-d'Aigues Cabrières-d'Aigues (; Provençal: ''Cabrièras d'Egues'') is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. See also * Côtes du Luberon AOC *Communes of the Vaucluse department * Étang ...

(

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

), was a French botanist and

biogeographer 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, i ...

. In 1926, he defended his thesis on "the vegetation of the eastern half of the

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 ...

", which laid the foundation for future work on the border between biogeography and vegetation mapping. Gaussen was an early advocate of the ideas of stages and vegetation succession, which are fundamental to

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 ...

. 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, 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 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 overl ...

, he received the Grand Prix of the Geographical Society 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 The University of Toulouse (french: Université de Toulouse) was a university in the French city of Toulouse that was established by papal bull in 1229, making it one of the earliest universities to emerge in Europe. Suppressed during the Frenc ...

. A great traveller, he was also the creator of a science section at the

French Institute of Pondicherry The French Institute of Pondicherry (french: Institut français de Pondichéry) UMIFRE 21 is a French research centre in Puducherry, India, under the joint supervision of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the French National Centre ...

. He worked with

Flora Europaea The ''Flora Europaea'' is a 5-volume encyclopedia of plants, published between 1964 and 1993 by Cambridge University Press. The aim was to describe all the national Floras of Europe in a single, authoritative publication to help readers identify ...

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. Having accumulated an impressive number of personal photographs, he donated his collection to the archives of the department of

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country' ...

, where they can still be viewed.

Principal publications

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

Eponymy

;

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial nom ...

: * (

Podocarpaceae Podocarpaceae is a large family of mainly Southern Hemisphere conifers, known in English as podocarps, comprising about 156 species of evergreen trees and shrubs.James E. Eckenwalder. 2009. ''Conifers of the World''. Portland, Oregon: Timber Pr ...

) '' Gaussenia'' A.V.Bobrov & Melikyan ;

Species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...

: * (

Aizoaceae The Aizoaceae, or fig-marigold family, is a large family of dicotyledonous flowering plants containing 135 genera and about 1800 species. They are commonly known as ice plants or carpet weeds. They are often called vygies in South Africa and Ne ...

) '' Opophytum gaussenii'' ( Leredde) H.Jacobsen ex Greuter & Burdet * (

Araliaceae The Araliaceae are a family of flowering plants composed of about 43 genera and around 1500 species consisting of primarily woody plants and some herbaceous plants. The morphology of Araliaceae varies widely, but it is predominantly distinguish ...

) '' Brassaiopsis gaussenii'' Bui * (

Asteraceae The family Asteraceae, alternatively Compositae, consists of over 32,000 known species of flowering plants in over 1,900 genera within the order Asterales. Commonly referred to as the aster, daisy, composite, or sunflower family, Compositae w ...

) ''

Leontodon ''Leontodon'' is a genus of plants in the tribe Cichorieae within the family Asteraceae, commonly known as hawkbits. Their English name derives from the mediaeval belief that hawks ate the plant to improve their eyesight. Although originally ...

gaussenii''

Sennen Sennen (''Cornish: Sen Senan'' or ''Sen Senana'') is a coastal civil parish and a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Sennen village is situated approximately eight miles (13 km) west-southwest of Penzance.Ordnance Survey: Landra ...

* (

Campanulaceae The family Campanulaceae (also bellflower family), of the order Asterales, contains nearly 2400 species in 84 genera of herbaceous plants, shrubs, and rarely small trees, often with milky sap. Among them are several familiar garden plants belo ...

) ''

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) ''

Juniperus Junipers are coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Juniperus'' () of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on the taxonomy, between 50 and 67 species of junipers are widely distributed throughout the Northern Hemisphere, from the Arcti ...

gaussenii'' Cheng * (

Elaeocarpaceae Elaeaocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera."Elaeocarpaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol. VI. Springer-Verlag: Be ...

) '' Elaeocarpus gaussenii'' Weibel * (

Moraceae The Moraceae — often called the mulberry family or fig family — are a family of flowering plants comprising about 38 genera and over 1100 species. Most are widespread in tropical and subtropical regions, less so in temperate climates; however ...

) ''

Dorstenia ''Dorstenia'' is a genus within the mulberry family, Moraceae. Depending on the author, there are said to be 100 to 170 species within this genus, second only in number to the genus ''Ficus'' within Moraceae. ''Dorstenia'' species are mainly kno ...

gaussenii'' J.Troch. & Koechl. * (

Pinaceae The Pinaceae, or pine family, are conifer trees or shrubs, including many of the well-known conifers of commercial importance such as cedars, firs, hemlocks, larches, pines and spruces. The family is included in the order Pinales, formerly kn ...

) ''

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 * (

) '' Afrocarpus gaussenii'' ( Woltz) C.N.PageNotes Roy. Bot. Gard. Edinburgh 45(2): 384. 1989 (IK) * (

Ulmaceae The Ulmaceae () are a family of flowering plants that includes the elms (genus ''Ulmus''), and the zelkovas (genus ''Zelkova''). Members of the family are widely distributed throughout the north temperate zone, and have a scattered distribution ...

) '' 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

mountain range. * The City of

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Pa ...

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 Communes of France, commune in the Ariège (department), Ariège Departments of France, department in southwestern France. Geography It is located in the former High Ariege in the High County Foix, Sabarthès. The valley opens to t ...

Stages and vegetation zones of France, Gaussen, 1938.

References

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