CURRENT LITERATURE 
BOOK REVIEWS 
Ecology of Isle Royale 
Isle Royale, Lake Superior, is a strategic point for ecological and bigee 
graphical investigation for several reasons. It is situated in the pee 
zone between two great life areas, the northeastern conifer forest region, an 
the eastern deciduous forest region. The isolation of the island from the 
mainland throughout its postglacial history has produced ideal conditions for 
the study of certain phases of plant and animal migration. _ Isolation has 
also resulted in unusual freedom from disturbing factors such as fire. Finally, 
the occurrence of certain forms far out of their ordinary range suggests ill 
tunity for valuable floristic and faunistic investigation. The Michigan ge 
logical Survey made a fortunate choice of a field of study when it sent as 
University Museum party to Isle Royale in the summer of 1905. ie 
1904 a Similar expedition, including three of the same members, worke mc) 
the island for a few days, after spending some weeks in the Porcupine Moun- 
tains of the Northern Peninsula. : 
The 1905 expedition was under the leadership of Dr. C. C. ADAMS, uae 
of the University of Illinois, and about half of the report? was written by nn 
The prime object was ecological investigation from a dynamic standpoint. : 
nearly every phase of the work the successional relations of the biota nae : 
emphasized. In connection with this study the forms were listed and pe 
tions made, and most of the resulting catalogues are doubtless as comp € 
as the limited time permitted. : t the 
The first thing that strikes one in glancing over the volume 1s tha ' 
report is dominantly, almost exclusively, a zoological study, only 31 out © 
ithout 
422 pages being devoted to the vegetation. We are left absolutely bee 
ae 
* An ecological survey of northern Michigan. Prepared under the direction 
C. C. Apams. Lansing. 1906 rt 
* Apams, C. C., An ecological survey of Isle Royale, Lake Superior. uae : 
from the University of Michigan Museum published by the State ie 5. 63+ 
as a part of the Report of the Geological Survey for 1908. pp. id Bessie es 
Lansing, Mich. 1909. 
232 
