Gaston Eugène Marie Bonnier (; 9 April 1853 – 2 January 1922) was a French

botanist Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

and plant

ecologist Ecology () is the natural science of the relationships among living organisms and their environment. Ecology considers organisms at the individual, population, community, ecosystem, and biosphere levels. Ecology overlaps with the closely re ...

Biography

Bonnier first studied at

École Normale Supérieure École or Ecole may refer to: * an elementary school in the French educational stages normally followed by Secondary education in France, secondary education establishments (collège and lycée) * École (river), a tributary of the Seine flowing i ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

from 1873 to 1876. Together with Charles Flahault, he studied at

Uppsala University Uppsala University (UU) () 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 operation. Initially fou ...

in 1878. They published two articles about their impressions: * Observations sur la flore cryptogamique de la Scandinavie * Sur la distribution des végétaux dans la region moyenne de la presqu’ile Scandinave (both with Charles Flahault 1879) He became assistant professor, later full professor, of

botany Botany, also called plant science, is the branch of natural science and biology studying plants, especially Plant anatomy, their anatomy, Plant taxonomy, taxonomy, and Plant ecology, ecology. A botanist or plant scientist is a scientist who s ...

at Sorbonne in 1887 and, in addition, he founded a Plant Biological Laboratory in

Fontainebleau Fontainebleau ( , , ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Functional area (France), metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the Kilometre zero#France, centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a Subprefectures in Franc ...

in 1889. The same year, he co-founded the

scientific journal In academic publishing, a scientific journal is a periodical publication designed to further the progress of science by disseminating new research findings to the scientific community. These journals serve as a platform for researchers, schola ...

Revue Générale de Botanique, which he edited until 1922. He was an early exponent of experimental plant ecology. He transplanted alpine plants between the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

and

Pyrenees The Pyrenees are a mountain range straddling the border of France and Spain. They extend nearly from their union with the Cantabrian Mountains to Cap de Creus on the Mediterranean coast, reaching a maximum elevation of at the peak of Aneto. ...

and the research garden in

. The results were published in: * ''Cultures expérimentales dans les Alpes et les Pyrénées''. Revue Générale de Botanique 2 (1890): 513–546. * ''Les plantes arctiques comparées aux mêmes espèces des Alpes et des Pyrénées'' (1894). * ''Nouvelles observations sur les cultures expérimentales à diverses altitudes et cultures par semis''. Revue Générale de Botanique 22 (1920): 305–326. He authored several floras of

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, such as * ''Nouvelle flore du Nord de la France et de la Belgique'' pour la détermination facile des plantes sans mots techniques. Vol. I. ''Tableaux synoptiques des plantes vasculaires de la flore de la France''. P. Dupont, Paris, 1894 (With Georges de Layens (1834–1897)). ** Vol. II. ''Nouvelle Flore des mousses et des hépatiques'' with Charles Isidore Douin (1858–1944). P. Dupont, Paris, 1895. ** Vol. III. ''Nouvelle Flore des champignons'' with Julien Noël Costantin (1857–1936) and Léon Jean Marie Dufour (1862–1942). P. Dupont, Paris, 1895. * ''Flore complète illustrée de France, Suisse et Belgique''. (1911). Notable students of Gaston Bonnier include Henri Devaux, Maurice Bouly de Lesdain, Paul Becquerel, Louis Emberger, Paul Jaccard, and Albert Maige among others.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonnier, Gaston 1853 births 1922 deaths Members of the French Academy of Sciences Corresponding members of the Saint Petersburg Academy of Sciences 20th-century French botanists Academic staff of the University of Paris French ecologists 19th-century French botanists Plant ecologists Lamarckism