The Ecology of the Alpine Zone of Mount Kenya

ISBN-13: 9789401178334 / Angielski / Miękka / 2012 / 144 str.

M.J. Coe

Opis

For centuries the peak of Mount Kenya has held a magical and religious significance for the Bantu and Nilohamitic peoples around its base. The Kikuyu live around the Eastern and Southern bound- aries and the closely related Uembu and Umeru on the S.E. and N.E. respectively. Early in this century the Masai lived to the N.W. and North, but after continual warfare between them and their neighbours, the European administrators of that time moved them to a special reserve to the South, which accounts at the present day for the retention in the Masai language of many words that refer to Mount Kenya. Kikuyu folk-lore tells how, when the earth was formed, a man named Mogai made a great mountain, Kere-Nyaga. The fine white powder (snow) covering the peak, which they called ira, was said to be the bed of Ngai (God), and during male and female circumcision ceremonies a white powder was placed on the wound, and the ini- tiates were told that this material had been brought from the summit of the mountain. In fact all important tribal ceremonies were, and in many cases still are conducted facing the mountain. Such occasions include marriage and sacrifice when, in time of hardship, Ngai's aid is called upon (CAGNOLO 1933, KENYATTA 1938, CRIRA 1959).

Spis treści

List of Contents.- Physiography.- Geology.- Glacial Geology.- Vegetation Zones and Communities.- 1. Ericaceous (Moorland) Zone.- (a) Damp boggy ground.- (b) Raised rocky ridges, or old weathered moraines.- (c) Stream courses.- 2. The Alpine Zone.- 3. The Lower Alpine Zone.- (a) Flat or gently sloping ground, usually wet.- (b) Weathered and eroded ridge tops.- 4. The Upper Alpine Zone.- (a) Valley walls.- (b) Valley floors.- (c) Ridge tops.- (d) Lakes and Tarns.- 5. The Nival Zone.- The Alpine Climate.- 1. Temperature.- 2. Rainfall.- 3. Wind.- 4. Climate and the Alpine Vegetation.- The Development and Distribution of Alpine Soils.- 1. Soil generation.- 2. The differentiation of Alpine soil habitats.- 3. The Structure and Chemistry of Alpine soils.- Colonisation in the Alpine Zone.- 1. Primary colonisation in the Alpine Zone.- (a) Colonisation of the Tyndall Glacier moraine.- (b) Colonisation of the Lewis Glacier moraine.- (c) Proglacial Tarns.- (d) Dating moraine deposits.- 2. Other Phases of Colonisation.- Biotic Factors in the Alpine Zone.- 1. Relations between animals, vegetation and habitats.- 2. Herbivores and their relation to vegetation.- (a) Population size and control.- (b) Breeding as a control factor.- Discussion.- Summary and Conclusions.