Ogtobek 20, 1906.] 



SCIENCE. 



529 



Restriction of Telegraph Development 

 Under Monopoly Control: Romyn Hitch- 

 cock, New York. 



J. Franklin Crowell, 



Secretary. 



SCIENTIFIC BOOKS. 



The Vegetation of the Lamao Forest Reserve. 

 By H. N. Whitford. The Philippine Jour- 

 nal of Science, Vol. I., No. 4, pp. 373^32, 

 pis. 1-27, with map ; May, 1906 ; and Vol. I„ 

 No. 6, pp. 637-682, pis. 28-45; July, 1906. 

 This paper embodies a careful descriptive 

 account of a large body of virgin forest near 

 Manila, in the study of which the author has 

 carried into the tropics the precise methods 

 of temperate forestry and the viewpoint of 

 physiographic ecology as developed by Cowles. 

 The Lamao Reserve occupies an area of 4,426 

 hectares on the eastern slopes of Mount Mari- 

 veles, which is located in the center of the 

 peninsula which forms the northern mouth of 

 Manila Bay. The reserve runs from sea-level 

 up to 1,406 meters altitude and presents 

 throughout an erosion topography. The cli- 

 mate of the region is shown to possess a 

 marked dry season from December to April, 

 with copious rains in the remaining months; 

 the annual curve of humidity follows that of 

 rainfall and the temperature is rather con- 

 stant with an annual mean of 36° C. and an 

 annual mean range of 3.4° C. 



The forest is midway in character between 

 the evergreen hygrophilous forest and the 

 monsoon forest, differing from each in having 

 an intermingling of evergreen and deciduous 

 trees. The author distinguishes six types of 

 forest formation in his area with distinctions 

 due to differences of altitude and the attend- 

 ant change in climatic conditions: (1) The 

 Strand, which is found to agree closely with 

 that descri-bed by Schimper for the Indo- 

 Malay Peninsula. (2) The Bambusa-Parkia 

 formation, characterized by an open stand of 

 trees many of which are leafless throughout 

 the dry season, and by pure and mixed growths 

 of several species of bamboo, which are in 

 effect partly deciduous. (3) The Anisoptera- 

 Strombosia formation inclines less to the 



monsoon type, as it contains no trees which 

 are leafless throughout the dry season; bam- 

 boos are here replaced by small dicotyledonous 

 trees ; the specific make-up of the forest is very 

 complex. (4) The Dipterocarpus-Shorea for- 

 mation exhibits an almost complete absence 

 of deciduous trees and a simpler floristic 

 make-up than the formations at lower alti- 

 tude. Here the variations due to differing 

 physiographic situation begin to be manifest. 

 (5) The Shorea-Plectronia formation lies be- 

 tween 400 and 900 meters altitude and has a 

 more hygrophilous climate than the last for- 

 mation with a more abundant representation 

 of pteridophytes and bryophytes. The insta- 

 bility of the substratum in this formation and 

 the next prevents as rich a development of 

 the forest as the climate would lead one to 

 expect. (6) The Eugenia- Vaecinium forma- 

 tion lies above 900 meters altitude and is 

 characterized by a very humid and cloudy 

 climate together with high winds. The forest 

 is here xerophilous and stunted on the ridges, 

 although more hygrophilous in the ravines and 

 depressions. Epiphytic vegetation abounds 

 and liverworts and filmy ferns are common. 

 Many genera are represented in this formation 

 which are common to tropical mountains 

 throughout the world or even to the temperate 

 regions. 



In the Bambusia-Parkia formation a study 

 has been made of the clearings, known as 

 * parangs,' and the return of these areas to the 

 climax forest. Some six types of parangs are 

 characterized, in each of which the flora is 

 poorer than in the original forest, and may 

 consist largely of comparatively pure stands 

 of certain small trees or may be occupied by 

 the climbing bamboo Dinochloa. In each of 

 the formations a detailed enumeration of the 

 forest trees has been made in several plots on 

 different soils or in different physiographic 

 situations. The summation of results for six 

 plots in the Anisoptera-Strombosia formation, 

 aggregating 5,850 square meters in area, shows 

 a total flora of 99 species. Of these the five 

 most abundant form but 35 per cent, of the 

 total and 64 are represented by three indi- 

 viduals or less. In another series of seven 



