CURRENT LITERATURE 



BOOK REVIEWS 

 Danish strand vegetation 



igraphs 



vegetation of Denmark. The aim is to treat the entire vegetation of the countr>^ 

 from the standpoint of ecology. In view of the many years of work of the author 

 in this field, these monographs are certain to take front rank in studies of this 

 kind, and it is to be regretted that pubUcation in the Danish language makes 

 them inaccessible to many who would read them with keen interest. The first 

 monograph deals with the strand, and the fact that more than 300 i»ges are 

 devoted to the strand of a smaH area, and at that without including the sand- 

 dune vegetation, gives some conception of the wealth of detail and thoroughness 

 of treatment of the study. In Warming^s many yeais of work in Denmark, the 

 strand and dune vegetation of his country have especially attracted his interest, 

 and the work here reviewed may be regarded as a summary^ of all his previous 

 work on the strand. There is no doubt that it takes its place at once as the 

 classic contribution on this subject. The volume is amply illustrated with many 

 halftone reproductions from photographs and a large number of drawing, rep- ^ 

 resenting Hfe-habits and structural characteristics of the strand plants. 



The first chapter considers the sea-chffs, a physiographic formation that is 

 but sHghtly developed in Denmark. The granites of Bomholm are mhabited 

 by halophytic lichens, and the Cretaceous calcareous rocks furnish a habitat for 

 rock-boring algae. Chapters follow on the gravel and shingle shores. There are 

 an gradations from rough stony coasts with no vegetation to older and higher 

 gravel coasts with abnost closed vegetation carpets- Between lai^ ston^ tore 

 often appear the characteristic plants of salt marshes- The most widespread shore 

 formation is the sand strand, and here successive belts of vegetation are seen, tirst 

 a plantless zone, then a zone of sand algae, followed by a zone of halophytic ^- 

 plants, mostly chenopods; last of the truly maritime formations is a zone m wfew:n 

 various non-halophytic psammophvtes mingle with the halophyles. A chapter 

 is devoted to the vegetation of the seaweed heaps, mostly made up of rudera 

 chenopods. The shallow lagoons, known as "vader," are poor in P^ts but 

 rich in animal life (for a fuHer account of these interesting habitats, see Box 

 Gazette 41 : 78, 79- 1906 . ; sometimes various diatoms and Saluornta kerh^a 

 are the only plants of such places. Ib similar situations, where only ^P^g ^ 

 bring contact with sah water, are some remarkable alga societies, chiefiy com- 



«WAfiMiNG, EtJG-, Dansk Plantevaekst. i- Strandvegetation, 

 figs. 1^4. Copenhagen and Christiania. x^ 



55 



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