2 12 MAGUIRE 



William S. Benninghoff in 1948 made reconnaissance of the vegetation of 

 the Yukon Flats in the vicinity of the Hadweenzic and Hodzana Rivers. In 

 1949 Benninghoff, accompanied by William C. Steere, collected on St. Law- 

 rence Island in the vicinities of Mount Sevuokuk, Savoonga, Mount Tam- 

 nik, and Tam-nik Lagoon. During 1950 and 1951 Benninghoff made recon- 

 naissance of the lowland and west side of the Kenai Peninsula, collecting in 

 addition to some 3000 vascular plants and cryptogams, peat samples for 

 pollen analysis. (In 1953, assisted by Herbert C. Robbins, he made ecologi- 

 cal reconnaissance of the area between Petowik Glacier and Olrik's Fjord 

 in northwestern Greenland.) And, finally, in 1955 and 1956 Benninghoff 

 mapped the vegetation north of the Alaska Range between the Delta and 

 Gerstle Rivers. 



In all, Doctor Benninghoff has amassed a large collection of some 7300 

 numbers. 



In 1949 William C. Steere investigated the moss flora of selected sites in 

 central and western Alaska and made extensive collections from local areas. 

 He has completed the taxonomic study of most of these collections and is in 

 the process of distributing duplicates to appropriate herbaria. Some results 

 of the investigations have appeared in short papers, and others have been 

 incorporated in larger studies that Steere has made more recently under the 

 sponsorship of the Office of Naval Research. 



In 1949 and 1950 William H. Drury made a botanical survey and joint 

 investigation with geomorphologists in the upper Kuskokwim region in the 

 vicinity of McGrath and Farewell. He collected approximately 4000 num- 

 bers of vascular plants, mosses, and lichens, of which the vascular plants 

 were studied at and are now filed in the Gray Herbarium. 



During four field seasons, 1949-1952, Ernest H. Muller, geologist, assisted 

 by Karl Raup and Arthur Lachenbruch, made small but critical collections 

 in the lowlands surrounding Kvichak and Nushagak Bays in southwestern 

 Alaska. These collections, totaling about 800 numbers, are now deposited in 

 the National Herbarium. 



Four vegetation maps at 1 : 2 5,000 have been prepared for restricted areas 

 by Benninghoff, and a vegetation map of northwestern North America at a 

 scale of 1:2,500,000 has been prepared by R. S. Sigafoos. A few suggestive 

 titles of the many publications already made emphasize the scope and sig- 

 nificance of this most important integrated research program: "Frost Action 

 and Vegetation Patterns on Seward Peninsula, Alaska" and "Frost Action as a 

 Primary Physical Factor in Tundra Plant Communities," both by R. S. 

 Sigafoos; "Interaction of Vegetation and Soil Frost Phenomena" by W. S. 

 Benninghoff; and "Bog Flats and Physiographic Processes in the Upper 

 Kuskokwim River Region, Alaska" by W. H. Drury. The taxonomic results 

 to be derived from the undertaking for the most part await publication. 



