American Geographical Society

Review: Vegetation of Nanga Parbat Author(s): William Seifriz Reviewed work(s): Das Pflanzenkleid des Nanga Parbat: Begleitworte zur Vegetationskarte der Nanga-ParbatGruppe (Nordwest-Himalaja) 1: 50,000 by Carl Troll Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 30, No. 2 (Apr., 1940), pp. 346-347 Published by: American Geographical Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/210164 Accessed: 23/10/2008 06:22
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THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

ence to India is recognized long before the Russian occupation of Merv and the Darwazah, both more distant, almost precipitated war with England. A last note of interest in this section is the statement on page 51 that maize was one of the staples of the region at that time. This statement is the more remarkable when we consider that even today there are few places in the Old World where maize is considered fit for human consumption. It is found in some parts of Italy, but in the bazaars of Iran and Afghanistan ears of corn are roasted and sold much as we have peanut vendors and "hot dog" stands. The second part of the book, dealing with the expedition of 1838 and 1839 against In the first place, it is incomplete; in the second, it does Balkh, is disappointing. not give much information about the actual operations and so is of little value historically. In 14 pages it covers the route of the army from a point near Bamiyan to Balkh and back to Kabul, via the Shibar Pass. This section is particularly interesting because it is one of the few accounts of this route to be found except for Babor's mention of it in the sixteenth century. This is now the scene of the new motor road built by the late great Nadir Shah and is the lowest of the passes over the Hindu Kush. Nevertheless, it is so narrow that until the establishment of order in this area within the last ten years it was seldom used except in necessity, probably because of the ease with which it could be ambushed and the absence of suitable forage and camp sites. The last section of the book is the best. It deals entertainingly, and with some personal anecdotes, with the life and social structure of the Hazara, a people of whom very little is known even today. For this section alone the book is worth reading. One puts down the book with regret that General Harlan did not eschew the quasi-learned style and tell more about himself and his adventures. Such, however, was not the nature of the man. He fancied himself as a scholar and philosopher. Those who doubt this assertion are urged to read his "A Memoir of India and Avghanistan," published in Philadelphia in I842, which deals more with the prophecies in the Book of Daniel than with events in either of the countries named in the title. The editor, Mr. Ross, deserves praise for his painstaking efforts in tracing down, arranging, and presenting the text but must be condemned for his failure to correct the weird transliterations that sometimes make identification extremely difficult. This is particularly noticeable in the place names, where, for example, we find Sibber If only because of its wide for Shibar and Zearit of Mozar for Ziarat-i-Mazar. acceptance and the fact that it is used on the map in the back of the book, the illogical and inaccurate system of the Map of India Survey would have been preferable. And apart from place names, imagine "cullioms" for "qalyan"! FELIX HOWLAND OF VEGETATION NANGA PARBAT

CARLTROLL. Das Pflanzenkleid des Nanga Parbat: Begleitworte zur Vegeta1: 50,000. Map, tionskarte der Nanga-Parbat-Gruppe (Nordwest-Himalaja) diagrs., ills. Wiss. Veroffentl. des Deutschen Museums fur Landerkunde, No. 7 (N.S.), Leipzig, 1939, PP. I49-I93. A vegetation map, together with a brief description thereof, of the Nanga Parbat mountain group, in the northwestern Himalaya, is presented as a preliminary account of the plant life of the region. It precedes the final identification of some I200 specimens of vascular plants and is based on the topographical map made by the German Himalaya Expedition of I937. The map covers an area of almost I500 square kilometers and includes altitudes between oo1000and 5000 meters. The region is of particular vegetative interest because it is bounded by distinctive Asiatic floral regions, which include Turan, Turkestan, and Tibet on the north, the Armenian-Mediterranean province on the west, the temperate areas of the Himalaya on the east from the mountains of Kashmir

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to West China, and the provinces of the alpine and subalpine Himalaya on the south. The region covered by the map may be divided into four altitudinal zones. (I use the much criticized term "zone" for the German Stufe in want of a better word.) These four altitudinal zones are: (i) the desert steppe; (2) the shrub steppe and the steppe forests; (3) the moist needle forests and birch forests; and (4) the alpine and snow zone. I. The desert steppe begins at about IIoo meters and extends to 2000 meters. It is a very dry region, practically untouched by the summer monsoon, which keeps outer areas of the Himalaya well watered. The characteristic plant of the steppe valleys is the gray vermouth shrub Artemisia maritima. 2. The shrub steppe and steppe woods are moderately dry, with an annual rainfall of 9 inches (230 mm.). In the higher regions (above 2700 m.) snow is abundant in winter. Artemisia still persists but is accompanied by Eurotia ceratoides and Kochia species. Other prominent plants are Juniperus semiglobosa, Rosa Webbiana, and Daphne oleoides. The Artemisia steppes undergo a pronounced physiognomic change when they give way to woods of Pinus Gerardiana, which constitute what may be termed a forest steppe. 3. The moist needle woods and birch woods do not form a closed belt around the Nanga Parbat massif but merely occupy the open, sunny areas between the adjoining zones. The tree line is formed at 3800-3900 meters by the birch, Betula utilis. A zone of mixed plant types fills in the space between the needle woods and the birch woods. The needle woods are poor in species; the trees are all evergreens: Pinus excelsa, Picea Morinda, Abies Webbiana, and Juniperus semiglobosa. The birches at a higher altitude are accompanied by Sorbus Aucuparia and Salix Wallichiana. The intervening areas are covered with high grass, herbs, and shrubs, which include Bromus, Festuca, Pirola, Astragalus, Leontopodium, Geranium, Epilobium, and Rubus. 4. The alpine and nival zone is the last and extends up to and beyond the snow line from 4500 to 5000 meters. Subdivisions of alpine zones have been variously drawn and named, the usual ones being subalpine, alpine, and snow. The subalpine region in the Nanga Parbat is the high grass already described. The alpine zone may itself be further divided into a tree belt, a rhododendron thicket, and alpine pastures. The trees are dwarfed and gnarled, forming Krummholz. The pastures harbor a typical alpine flora of the grass Cobresia, the sedge Carex nivalis, the dwarf shrubs Ephedra and Artemisia, and the flowering herbs Sibbaldia, Minuartia, Androsace, Mertensia, Delphinium, and Veronica. Within the snow areas typical alpine herbs find room to thrive. They are adventurous alpine plants that grow better at slightly lower altitudes but do well in crevices and pockets at the maximum altitude for plant life. These pioneers include Corydalis, Primula, Draba, Saxifraga, Leontopodium, Potentilla, and Ranunculus natans in water pools. WILLIAM SEIFRIZ
DISTRIBUTION OF OXYGEN IN ATLANTIC OCEAN WATERS HERMANN WATTENBERG.

Die Verteilung des Sauerstoffs im Atlantischen Ozean. (Wissenschaftliche Ergebnisse der Deutschen Atlantischen Expedition auf dem Forschungs- und Vermessungsschiff "Meteor" I925-1927, Vol. 9, Part I.) Walter de Gruyter & Co., Berlin, 1938.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss geographical variations in the vertical distribution of dissolved oxygen throughout the Atlantic Ocean and to utilize pertinent information for the examination of certain outstanding problems in physical and biochemical oceanography, the solutions of which are intimately connected with the oxygen role. The report, based chiefly on data from the Meteor scientific expedition in 1925-1927, is divided into four principal parts (exclusive of pre-