1130 Book reviews

of the earth’s surface. Whether it be The main chapters cover: geology of the In conclusion, a personal reflection: there

disappearance of arctic sea ice, glacier melt, Everest-Makalu region; glaciers and gla- are many high-altitude research stations, and

sea level rise, changes in altitude of the upper ciology; meteorology and climatology; money (or at least some of it) may have been

timberline, changes in agricultural pro- stream hydrochemistry – Khumbu, Anna- better spent supporting and enlarging one

ductivity, increasingly turbulent weather pat- purna, and Langtang regions; micro-pol- or more of these, currently under severe

terns, an increase in relevant research is a lutants; subalpine vegetation of Sagarmatha financial stress. For instance, the Geo-

responsible cautionary response. The ques- National Park; collembolan fauna; palaeo- graphical Institute in Almaty, Kazakhstan,

tion of where to look for the most convincing limnology and biotic limnology of the tries desperately to maintain four stations in

examples as harbingers of ecosystem change Khumbu; water resources and public health the nearby Tien Shan that have an invaluable

has been raised in numerous publications in the Khumbu; human physiology; and de- database going back to the 1930s. Theirand there is a growing consensus that high velopment of an electronic information sys- potential as benchmarks for future globalmountains will constitute one of the most tem as a base for Khumbu research. change research may equal or exceed theconvincing places. While a lot of new material is introduced Pyramid, yet they would require only a frac-

This argument in favour of the sensitivity and some very worthwhile syntheses are pre- tion of the funds being spent in the Khumbu.of high-mountain ecosystems, together with sented, the book is very disappointing. This JACK D. IVES

their currently unadulterated environmental is largely due to the flawed editorial policy. Research Coordinator for Mountaincondition, appears to be a primary jus- But there are also some surprising omissions. Ecology and Sustainable Development,tification for Italian government funding for For instance, the chapters on glaciology and The United Nations University, Tokyo,a high-altitude laboratory (5050 m), named water barely mention the occurrence of cata- Japanthe ‘Pyramid’, in the Khumbu Himal, close strophic outbreaks of glacial lakes. The

Khumbu itself, 1985 witnessed the total de-to Mount Everest. Short noticeThe Pyramid laboratory was established struction of a hydro-electric power station

by a glacial lake outburst flood; and on thein 1989 and the book under review introducesA valuable contribution to thethis ambitious project. It attempts to provide Imja Glacier, almost in sight of the Pyramid,Mexican floraa benchmark synthesis of Himalayan eco- a potentially dangerous lake has developed

system research, including a sample of the over the last 30 years: similarly in the nearbyMartin, P.S., Yetman, D., Fishbein, M.,early scientific results deriving from the Pyr- Rolwaling valley, and in many other loc-Jenkins, P., Van Devender, T.R. & Wilson,amid undertaking. The United Nation’s des- ations. If the Karakorum is included to facili-R.K. (eds) 1998. Gentry’s Rıo Mayo Plants:ignation on 10 November, 1998 of AD 2002 tate the incorporation of the splendid Italianthe tropical deciduous forest and environsas the International Year of the Mountains contributions, the enormous amount of workof northwest Mexico. xvi+558 pp., figs,further strengthens the justification for produced by the German-Pakistan (Culturetables, photos, index. Hardback: PriceItalian support of what must be an extremely Area Karakorum) project and that of Pro-$75.00. ISBN 0-8165-1726-6.expensive effort in a still remote mountain fessor Kenneth Hewitt and his Canadian-

location. Pakistan team deserve at least passing ref-This work represents an excellent source ofThe editors have obviously faced con- erence.information on the natural history of thesiderable difficulty in determining the scope The book is produced on high qualityRıo Mayo region in northwest Mexico. It isof the book. There is an apparent, and per- paper and is expensively bound, yet the qual-intended to update and complement the datafectly understandable, desire to emphasize ity of photographic reproduction is un-of the classic botanical text entitled Rıothe Italian contribution to Himalayan re- satisfactory. The translations, for the mostMayo Plants written by Howard Scottsearch. While this contribution is slight in part, are excellent, yet there are many curiousGentry in 1942. Important additions to theterms of the Himalaya sensu stricto (from errors. The ‘Indo’ river crops up many timeslocality and taxa list are included, as wellthe Indus gorge in the northwest to the gorge – is this an error in translation or proof-as some conceptual taxonomic and plantof the Brahmaputra in the east), it is very reading? The word “sustain” appears as acommunity changes that differ from theconsiderable if the Karakorum range is in- synonym for “maintain” and the use of “en-views originally put forward by Gentry.cluded (especially in the field of glaciology). tity” is very confusing. On page 247: “This

The book is organized into four parts.The same is true of mountaineering, which river . . . the Sapta Kosi System, the fastestThe first one includes an introduction to thethe editors set on a pedestal. The outstanding river in Nepal, is said to be exceeded in sizehistory of botanical studies of the region andcontributions of the Duke of Abruzzi and, only by the India (sic) and Brahamaputraa synthesis of the work carried out by Gentry.later, of Professor Ardito Desio (the latter is (sic) on the Indian subcontinent.” What isIn addition, it presents a summary of theof world stature, both as leader of the first “fast” or “fastest”, and what about thebotanical studies that were undertaken sincesuccessful expedition to climb K-2, and as a Meghna for size? “Indus” and “Bram-

the publication of Rıo Mayo Plants in 1942.glaciologist), would be beyond the scope haputra”, obviously, are intended!

This first part also covers an excellent pre-of a treatment of the Himalaya narrowly The justification for a climatological sta-

sentation of the biological, physical, bio-defined, as the editors appear to desire, yet tion (part of the function of the Pyramid) to

geographical and cultural features of thefail to abide by. This editorial ambiguity be situated close to the floor of a deep

region, including changes to the formercauses the results to fall between the stools valley amongst some of the world’s highest

vegetation classification by Gentry. Seven– excessive spread of subject matter (in- mountains is an anomaly in itself. The loca-

different plant communities are identified,clusiveness) and insufficient coverage of the tion appears to reflect the ambiguity of the

including the Pine-Oak forest and theenormous amount of available material on editorial policy. Finally, the weaknesses of

Coastal Vegetation that were not recognisedthe Khumbu Himal itself, and close neigh- the presentation are compounded by the high

price of the book.bouring areas. by Gentry.

Blackwell Science Ltd 1999, Journal of Biogeography, 26, 1129–1131

Short notice 1131

The second part represents a compilation attributes, including the origin of the locality the natural history of the region, including

interesting and useful ethnobotanical dataof localities that were visited by Gentry, as name.

The third part of the book represents awell as those where collections were made from cultivated and wild taxa.

after his publiction. A total of 381 different comprehensive and excellent account of the

contribution of Howard Scott Gentry to thelocalities are included and described. For PATRICIA D. DAVILA

Escuela Nacional de Estudioseach locality, the following information is knowledge of the Rıo Mayo region. In this

section, Gentry was able to compile in a veryincluded: a precise locality description, grids, Profesionales,

Iztacala, UNAM, Mexicovegetation type, altitude, and some other elegant and coherent way information about

Blackwell Science Ltd 1999, Journal of Biogeography, 26, 1129–1131