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THE MOUNTAIN VEGETATION OF SOUTH PERU: SYNTAXONOMY, ECOLOGY, PHYTOGEOGRAPHY AND CONSERVATION This thesis presents an overview and revision of plant communities from xerophytic and mountain landscapes in the dry Andes of South Peru. The revision is based on comparison of the collected vegetation data with other regional and interregional studies. This phytosociologic overview comprises the arid and semi-arid montane vegetation of the province of Arequipa and besides the plant communities of Moquegua from the prepuna between 3470 and 3700 m, the puna between 3750 and 4500 m and the superpuna between 4450 and 4800 m. The Braun-Blanquet approach and multivariate ordination and classification methods have been applied to classify the different plant communities and to study the relation between plant communities and environmental variables, such as altitude, slope degree and exposition, rock and stone cover percentage, manure cover and grazing. Furthermore the results are presented of a phytogeographical analysis of the Andean puna flora (at vascular genus level) and its relation to other tropicalpine regions in South America. Finally, the descriptions of six recently published new species are included in this thesis. The results provide an important database for nature conservation issues, stressing the significance of protecting the fragile and diverse ecosystems of the Moqueguan Andes. The results of this vegetation survey can be used to prioritize the selection and assignment of nature reserves.

THE MOUNTAIN VEGETATION OF SOUTH PERU: SYNTAXONOMY, ECOLOGY, PHYTOGEOGRAPHY AND CONSERVATION This thesis presents an overview and revision of plant communities from xerophytic and mountain landscapes in the dry Andes of South Peru. The revision is based on comparison of the collected vegetation data with other regional and interregional studies. This phytosociologic overview comprises the arid and semi-arid montane vegetation of the province of Arequipa and besides the plant communities of Moquegua from the prepuna between 3470 and 3700 m, the puna between 3750 and 4500 m and the superpuna between 4450 and 4800 m. The Braun-Blanquet approach and multivariate ordination and classification methods have been applied to classify the different plant communities and to study the relation between plant communities and environmental variables, such as altitude, slope degree and exposition, rock and stone cover percentage, manure cover and grazing. Furthermore the results are presented of a phytogeographical analysis of the Andean puna flora (at vascular genus level) and its relation to other tropicalpine regions in South America. Finally, the descriptions of six recently published new species are included in this thesis. The results provide an important database for nature conservation issues, stressing the significance of protecting the fragile and diverse ecosystems of the Moqueguan Andes. The results of this vegetation survey can be used to prioritize the selection and assignment of nature reserves.

cum laude graduation (with distinction)

cum laude graduation (with distinction)

This report gives the result of an analysis of the ecological network of Regione Abruzzo. Seven species were analysed, which can be related to four ecosystem types: woodland, wetland, grassland and steppe, and shrubland. The LARCH model was used to assess whether these ecosystems still function as an ecological network. The study shows that the Region has no serious fragmentation problem at the moment, considering the viability of the networks. However, corridors are essential to maintaining the highquality of nature as we find it in Abruzzo. With few investments a well-functioning sustainable ecological network can be realized. Through the development and consolidation of an optimized ecological network good opportunities are created for the long-term future development. This study presents ideas and forms a good basis for further development of an improved ecological network. Based on the spatial cohesion for the ecoprofiles used in this analysis, a lay-out for a possible ecological network has been prepared. This is a lay-out for terrestrial corridors, i.e. for the forest, shrubland and grassland ecosystems.

This report gives the result of an analysis of the ecological network of Regione Abruzzo. Seven species were analysed, which can be related to four ecosystem types: woodland, wetland, grassland and steppe, and shrubland. The LARCH model was used to assess whether these ecosystems still function as an ecological network. The study shows that the Region has no serious fragmentation problem at the moment, considering the viability of the networks. However, corridors are essential to maintaining the highquality of nature as we find it in Abruzzo. With few investments a well-functioning sustainable ecological network can be realized. Through the development and consolidation of an optimized ecological network good opportunities are created for the long-term future development. This study presents ideas and forms a good basis for further development of an improved ecological network. Based on the spatial cohesion for the ecoprofiles used in this analysis, a lay-out for a possible ecological network has been prepared. This is a lay-out for terrestrial corridors, i.e. for the forest, shrubland and grassland ecosystems.

The social and biophysical processes entailed in environmental deterioration are the subject of intense debate in Honduras, one of the poorest countries of Latin America. This book analyses the political ecology of precarious farming in mountainous areas. The author evaluates a rich array of social and agronomic data in order to assess existing theories that purport to explain environmental deterioration and agrarian change in Honduras. It explores the relationships between land tenure patterns, shifting agricultural practices, changing social relations of production, and producers' knowledge. Special attention is given to differential perceptions and responses of producers to environmental deterioration, and to the broader knowledge struggles of different actors about issues such as burning, the fallow crisis, biocide use, and deforestation. This detailed case study draws on political economy, human ecology, critical realism, and social constructionism and constitutes an original contribution to current debates on political ecology.The central argument of this book is that land degradation through present agricultural practices is not simply an effect of poverty, inconsiderate acting or a direct consequence of a modernisation process which is orchestrated and imposed upon the Honduran peasantry by external capitalist development. Instead, the social causation of environmental change in mountainous areas of Honduras should be understood in terms of a complex mixture of local patterns of access to resources, forms of state intervention, the heterogeneous paths of technological change and knowledge generation, divisions of labour, and the specific interactions of emerging commodity markets and the organization of production.Chapter two focuses on issues of land tenure and property rights. It compares local histories of land distribution in El Zapote with widely used models of the latifundio-minifundio complex and the colonial legacy of the large landholding. Subsequently, it explores how local rules and cultural notions, local government and state laws, and state interventions through land reform and land titling projects, mediate the relation between people and the land. Conclusions deal with the multiple land histories which explain the complexity of conflicts, and with the many factors shaping the meaning villagers attribute to the value of land.Chapter three explores technological changes in crop production and cattle husbandry and compares the findings in El Zapote with recent studies dealing with heterogeneity and diversity in agriculture, thus criticizing approaches which maintain a duality of traditional and modern agricultural technology. It stresses the recognition of the multiplicity of factors causing technological change.This exploration of technological change serves as a starting point for the discussion of how different environmental problems are perceived by different actors. Chapter four identifies different perspectives on the fallow crisis, the use of fire to clear fields, vegetation and climatic change, and the use of new agro-chemicals. It deals with the paradox that agronomy cannot encompass the many factors involved in environmental deterioration, but that an alternative strategy of validating producers' environmental perceptions cannot provide a coherent theory of the causes of environmental deterioration as well.In Chapters two, three, and four, it will be shown that environmental behaviour and perceptions about environmental change relate to access to, and distribution of, resources. Chapter five gives further consideration to the different aspects of the social relations of production in El Zapote, in order to understand the processes of social differentiation.Chapter six broadens the issue of social differentiation with a discussion of local agricultural knowledge. The argument is put forward that we need an understanding of both the practical character of knowledge, (that local knowledge generation responds to environment and social context), and its discursive character. Knowledge is not only embedded in narratives on the epistemological level, but also in concrete natural environments and social relations. An important conclusion is that current `local knowledge approaches' overestimate the potential of local knowledge for environmental conservation or restoration.The concluding chapter starts by commenting on various explanations of environmental deterioration in Honduran mountain agriculture. Using the case study of El Zapote it presents an alternative explanation with the main argument that a linear relation between the distribution of the means of production and labour relations on the one hand, and use of the environment on the other, cannot be justified, but that, nevertheless, an inquiry into changing patterns of social differentiation may provide insight into important mechanisms of human interaction with nature. The final section challenges theoretical (epistemological and ontological) confusions about social and biophysical causation of environmental deterioration in environmental social science.

The social and biophysical processes entailed in environmental deterioration are the subject of intense debate in Honduras, one of the poorest countries of Latin America. This book analyses the political ecology of precarious farming in mountainous areas. The author evaluates a rich array of social and agronomic data in order to assess existing theories that purport to explain environmental deterioration and agrarian change in Honduras. It explores the relationships between land tenure patterns, shifting agricultural practices, changing social relations of production, and producers' knowledge. Special attention is given to differential perceptions and responses of producers to environmental deterioration, and to the broader knowledge struggles of different actors about issues such as burning, the fallow crisis, biocide use, and deforestation. This detailed case study draws on political economy, human ecology, critical realism, and social constructionism and constitutes an original contribution to current debates on political ecology.The central argument of this book is that land degradation through present agricultural practices is not simply an effect of poverty, inconsiderate acting or a direct consequence of a modernisation process which is orchestrated and imposed upon the Honduran peasantry by external capitalist development. Instead, the social causation of environmental change in mountainous areas of Honduras should be understood in terms of a complex mixture of local patterns of access to resources, forms of state intervention, the heterogeneous paths of technological change and knowledge generation, divisions of labour, and the specific interactions of emerging commodity markets and the organization of production.Chapter two focuses on issues of land tenure and property rights. It compares local histories of land distribution in El Zapote with widely used models of the latifundio-minifundio complex and the colonial legacy of the large landholding. Subsequently, it explores how local rules and cultural notions, local government and state laws, and state interventions through land reform and land titling projects, mediate the relation between people and the land. Conclusions deal with the multiple land histories which explain the complexity of conflicts, and with the many factors shaping the meaning villagers attribute to the value of land.Chapter three explores technological changes in crop production and cattle husbandry and compares the findings in El Zapote with recent studies dealing with heterogeneity and diversity in agriculture, thus criticizing approaches which maintain a duality of traditional and modern agricultural technology. It stresses the recognition of the multiplicity of factors causing technological change.This exploration of technological change serves as a starting point for the discussion of how different environmental problems are perceived by different actors. Chapter four identifies different perspectives on the fallow crisis, the use of fire to clear fields, vegetation and climatic change, and the use of new agro-chemicals. It deals with the paradox that agronomy cannot encompass the many factors involved in environmental deterioration, but that an alternative strategy of validating producers' environmental perceptions cannot provide a coherent theory of the causes of environmental deterioration as well.In Chapters two, three, and four, it will be shown that environmental behaviour and perceptions about environmental change relate to access to, and distribution of, resources. Chapter five gives further consideration to the different aspects of the social relations of production in El Zapote, in order to understand the processes of social differentiation.Chapter six broadens the issue of social differentiation with a discussion of local agricultural knowledge. The argument is put forward that we need an understanding of both the practical character of knowledge, (that local knowledge generation responds to environment and social context), and its discursive character. Knowledge is not only embedded in narratives on the epistemological level, but also in concrete natural environments and social relations. An important conclusion is that current `local knowledge approaches' overestimate the potential of local knowledge for environmental conservation or restoration.The concluding chapter starts by commenting on various explanations of environmental deterioration in Honduran mountain agriculture. Using the case study of El Zapote it presents an alternative explanation with the main argument that a linear relation between the distribution of the means of production and labour relations on the one hand, and use of the environment on the other, cannot be justified, but that, nevertheless, an inquiry into changing patterns of social differentiation may provide insight into important mechanisms of human interaction with nature. The final section challenges theoretical (epistemological and ontological) confusions about social and biophysical causation of environmental deterioration in environmental social science.

IntroductionThe challenge for land use management in the nineties is to initiate a people- centered development process which creates opportunities for local people to make their own choices about which development strategy to follow. This need is felt in particular for upland areas where government initiated blue- print programmes for land use management have a record of failure. The major reason is that these programmes are often not adjusted to cope with the complexity and diversity of the uplands. Land use management encompasses both short-term and longterm benefits and is confronted with rapid changes. The differing role of private, state and communal lands in combination with a complex system of control and utilization makes land use management difficult to fully understand. This study responds with the development of an alternative strategy for planning sustainable land use programmes at local level and has the following objectives:- to develop a strategic model for people-centered planning of sustainable land use programmes;- to develop a flexible planning method that can serve as land use management tool at local level;- to test the feasibility of the strategy for the uplands of East Java, Indonesia.Strategic modelThe two major principles of the strategic model are:- Programmes are planned and implemented through a learning process in a local and organizational dimension. The local dimension includes a learning process of planning, implementing and monitoring of small scale programmes. The planning process is short, but planned interventions are regularly adjusted based on new insights and changing conditions. In the organizational dimension the learning process proceeds through three different phases of trial, development and expansion. In this dimension, the government can learn how to manage the strategy of implementing local level planning and how to change attitudes, norms and organizational competence of organizations in order to do so. This dimension embraces local, regional and national governments.- Three major variables have to be considered in programme planning: land use system; interventions and organizations. Sustainable land use programmes are only possible if a good fit between these variables is achieved.In the strategic model these two principles are combined; a fit between the variables is achieved through a learning process. Because achieving a fit between the three variables is a complicated matter, it requires a phased approach which consists of the following three steps: a trial phase, a development phase and an expansion phase. In the trial phase, the focus is on achieving a fit between interventions and land use system in the local dimension. This is achieved through the implementation of trial cases in local level planning in which villagers, field workers of organizations and local leaders become acquainted with this new approach of planning sustainable land use programmes at a local level. In the development phase, attention is focused on achieving a fit between organizations and land use system. Through the development of human resources and extension processes the skills and attitudes of those involved may gradually change to become more people-oriented. In the expansion phase the focus is on achieving a fit between interventions and organization. In this phase the planning approach is accepted and applied at a national level. Changes in government structures and procedures, such as decentralization and strengthening of local leadership need to be achieved. By dividing the process into phases, the complex problems associated with planning sustainable land use become manageable, and step by step the ultimate goal of achieving a fit between all three variables can be reached.Planning methodIn order to reach an optimal fit between the three variables of the strategic model in the trial phase, a planning method should be applied to collect and analyse data that can be transformed into the design of effective programmes. No 'off-the-peg' planning method is available, instead a combination of existing approaches, methods and techniques is needed.Three development approaches can be distinguished to this end: planning of land use development; extension approaches and project management approaches. Generally speaking, each approach covers a different side of the strategic model. Land use development focuses on achieving a fit between interventions and land use system; extension processes can be used in achieving a fit between land use system and organizations; and the fit between interventions and organizations can be accomplished with the help of project management techniques.For planning land use development in the trial phase a number of current methods and techniques are discussed. These are Farming System Analysis, Land Evaluation, Agroecosystem Analysis, Landscape Planning, Rapid Rural Appraisal and Gender Analysis. The criteria set by the strategic model determine which aspects of these present planning methods and techniques are useful for the development of a new planning method. None of these methods and techniques as such are ideal as an operational planning method for realizing the first phase of the strategic model. A synthesis of all useful features into a new land use planning method is proposed.For the trial phase the focus is on planning land use development while opportunities to develop extension processes and to influence project management are limited. Therefore plans should basically be tailored to the existing competence of organizations. Within these limitations some attention can be paid to extension processes and management techniques by introducing an additional step to land use planning, called programming which includes the preparation of a detailed design and a programme planning matrix.Planning environment on JavaThe environment for the planning of land use development programmes is diverse and complex in the uplands of East Java. Farmers react to the wide diversity in the land use system by developing a large number of different land use strategies. By contrast, government organizations use standardized programmes with uniform and mostly inflexible procedures for planning and implementation. Village development planning procedures exist, but do not yet function properly. Local organizations responsible for village development planning do not yet possess the skills and capability to develop such plans, and centrally organized sectoral agencies still dominate this 'bottom-up' planning process. The dominance of the central government can be explained by the incorporation of a number of socio-cultural features in their policy, such as the principles of 'sole authority', consensus, and harmony. The government uses these principles to encapsulate autonomous local organizations in the government administration, orienting the local leaders more to government rules and procedures than to the needs of the local population.This orientation towards government administration has two major implications for the current planning of interventions. Firstly, the interventions are adjusted to the competence of implementing organizations rather than letting the organizations develop their competence to implement the tasks of locally planned interventions. Secondly little more than lip-service is paid to the participation of villagers in planning.Notwithstanding these shortcomings in the present village development planning process, official government policy has some room for improvement. This may allow for a more balanced planning process new approach.Secondly, constraints which can be expected while applying the model on Java are described. The feasibility of the trial phase of the strategy is evaluated based on experiences with implementing the trial cases on Java. In this evaluation the question is raised as to what extent the results of local level planning on Java can respond to the research objectives as formulated at the start of this study. No experience has been gained as yet with implementing the development and expansion phase. One programme that provides some valuable lessons for the feasibility of the phased learning process of the strategic model is the Java Social Forestry Programme (JSFP). This programme has followed a comparable phasing strategy and has already reached the expansion phase.Conclusions and policy recommendationsThis evaluation results in a number of conclusions on conditions to be fulfilled for successful implementation of the strategy. To sum up:- although the strategy is aimed at the local level, it cannot be realized at local level only as it requires involvement of regional and national government organizations to deal with changing communication processes and organizational structure;- objectives in village development planning should be set realistically in the knowledge that short term results will always dominate long term benefits, tangible results will get higher priority than social changes, while top-down influences from sectoral agencies will prevail;- in addressing the organizational dimension a choice should be made between following an approach of 'decentralized trial cases' versus 'centrally guided bottom-up process'. Whichever strategy is chosen it needs careful management to avoid difficulties in institutionalization or a too rapid expansion respectively;- it is necessary for the government to be shown better results in terms of sustainable land use development programmes at local level implemented by highly committed villagers. Only then may they be motivated to accept such a participatory approach at the cost of losing some power or consensus;- implementing a participatory planning process is an initially slow process, to which government agencies need to be committed.These conditions are translated into a number of policy recommendations for donor agencies and governments pertaining to: long-term and continuous commitment; development of the management capacity and motivation of people involved; and strengthening the competence of a government organization for responsive governance.Experiences in Java have illustrated the importance of congruence between the design of land use interventions; the development of communication processes and the development of organizational competence. The whole range of actors involved who strive for sustainable land use - from villagers to programme managers - will have to contribute to achieving this fit. They will only be able so when they view PLANNING AS A LEARNING PROCESS.

IntroductionThe challenge for land use management in the nineties is to initiate a people- centered development process which creates opportunities for local people to make their own choices about which development strategy to follow. This need is felt in particular for upland areas where government initiated blue- print programmes for land use management have a record of failure. The major reason is that these programmes are often not adjusted to cope with the complexity and diversity of the uplands. Land use management encompasses both short-term and longterm benefits and is confronted with rapid changes. The differing role of private, state and communal lands in combination with a complex system of control and utilization makes land use management difficult to fully understand. This study responds with the development of an alternative strategy for planning sustainable land use programmes at local level and has the following objectives:- to develop a strategic model for people-centered planning of sustainable land use programmes;- to develop a flexible planning method that can serve as land use management tool at local level;- to test the feasibility of the strategy for the uplands of East Java, Indonesia.Strategic modelThe two major principles of the strategic model are:- Programmes are planned and implemented through a learning process in a local and organizational dimension. The local dimension includes a learning process of planning, implementing and monitoring of small scale programmes. The planning process is short, but planned interventions are regularly adjusted based on new insights and changing conditions. In the organizational dimension the learning process proceeds through three different phases of trial, development and expansion. In this dimension, the government can learn how to manage the strategy of implementing local level planning and how to change attitudes, norms and organizational competence of organizations in order to do so. This dimension embraces local, regional and national governments.- Three major variables have to be considered in programme planning: land use system; interventions and organizations. Sustainable land use programmes are only possible if a good fit between these variables is achieved.In the strategic model these two principles are combined; a fit between the variables is achieved through a learning process. Because achieving a fit between the three variables is a complicated matter, it requires a phased approach which consists of the following three steps: a trial phase, a development phase and an expansion phase. In the trial phase, the focus is on achieving a fit between interventions and land use system in the local dimension. This is achieved through the implementation of trial cases in local level planning in which villagers, field workers of organizations and local leaders become acquainted with this new approach of planning sustainable land use programmes at a local level. In the development phase, attention is focused on achieving a fit between organizations and land use system. Through the development of human resources and extension processes the skills and attitudes of those involved may gradually change to become more people-oriented. In the expansion phase the focus is on achieving a fit between interventions and organization. In this phase the planning approach is accepted and applied at a national level. Changes in government structures and procedures, such as decentralization and strengthening of local leadership need to be achieved. By dividing the process into phases, the complex problems associated with planning sustainable land use become manageable, and step by step the ultimate goal of achieving a fit between all three variables can be reached.Planning methodIn order to reach an optimal fit between the three variables of the strategic model in the trial phase, a planning method should be applied to collect and analyse data that can be transformed into the design of effective programmes. No 'off-the-peg' planning method is available, instead a combination of existing approaches, methods and techniques is needed.Three development approaches can be distinguished to this end: planning of land use development; extension approaches and project management approaches. Generally speaking, each approach covers a different side of the strategic model. Land use development focuses on achieving a fit between interventions and land use system; extension processes can be used in achieving a fit between land use system and organizations; and the fit between interventions and organizations can be accomplished with the help of project management techniques.For planning land use development in the trial phase a number of current methods and techniques are discussed. These are Farming System Analysis, Land Evaluation, Agroecosystem Analysis, Landscape Planning, Rapid Rural Appraisal and Gender Analysis. The criteria set by the strategic model determine which aspects of these present planning methods and techniques are useful for the development of a new planning method. None of these methods and techniques as such are ideal as an operational planning method for realizing the first phase of the strategic model. A synthesis of all useful features into a new land use planning method is proposed.For the trial phase the focus is on planning land use development while opportunities to develop extension processes and to influence project management are limited. Therefore plans should basically be tailored to the existing competence of organizations. Within these limitations some attention can be paid to extension processes and management techniques by introducing an additional step to land use planning, called programming which includes the preparation of a detailed design and a programme planning matrix.Planning environment on JavaThe environment for the planning of land use development programmes is diverse and complex in the uplands of East Java. Farmers react to the wide diversity in the land use system by developing a large number of different land use strategies. By contrast, government organizations use standardized programmes with uniform and mostly inflexible procedures for planning and implementation. Village development planning procedures exist, but do not yet function properly. Local organizations responsible for village development planning do not yet possess the skills and capability to develop such plans, and centrally organized sectoral agencies still dominate this 'bottom-up' planning process. The dominance of the central government can be explained by the incorporation of a number of socio-cultural features in their policy, such as the principles of 'sole authority', consensus, and harmony. The government uses these principles to encapsulate autonomous local organizations in the government administration, orienting the local leaders more to government rules and procedures than to the needs of the local population.This orientation towards government administration has two major implications for the current planning of interventions. Firstly, the interventions are adjusted to the competence of implementing organizations rather than letting the organizations develop their competence to implement the tasks of locally planned interventions. Secondly little more than lip-service is paid to the participation of villagers in planning.Notwithstanding these shortcomings in the present village development planning process, official government policy has some room for improvement. This may allow for a more balanced planning process new approach.Secondly, constraints which can be expected while applying the model on Java are described. The feasibility of the trial phase of the strategy is evaluated based on experiences with implementing the trial cases on Java. In this evaluation the question is raised as to what extent the results of local level planning on Java can respond to the research objectives as formulated at the start of this study. No experience has been gained as yet with implementing the development and expansion phase. One programme that provides some valuable lessons for the feasibility of the phased learning process of the strategic model is the Java Social Forestry Programme (JSFP). This programme has followed a comparable phasing strategy and has already reached the expansion phase.Conclusions and policy recommendationsThis evaluation results in a number of conclusions on conditions to be fulfilled for successful implementation of the strategy. To sum up:- although the strategy is aimed at the local level, it cannot be realized at local level only as it requires involvement of regional and national government organizations to deal with changing communication processes and organizational structure;- objectives in village development planning should be set realistically in the knowledge that short term results will always dominate long term benefits, tangible results will get higher priority than social changes, while top-down influences from sectoral agencies will prevail;- in addressing the organizational dimension a choice should be made between following an approach of 'decentralized trial cases' versus 'centrally guided bottom-up process'. Whichever strategy is chosen it needs careful management to avoid difficulties in institutionalization or a too rapid expansion respectively;- it is necessary for the government to be shown better results in terms of sustainable land use development programmes at local level implemented by highly committed villagers. Only then may they be motivated to accept such a participatory approach at the cost of losing some power or consensus;- implementing a participatory planning process is an initially slow process, to which government agencies need to be committed.These conditions are translated into a number of policy recommendations for donor agencies and governments pertaining to: long-term and continuous commitment; development of the management capacity and motivation of people involved; and strengthening the competence of a government organization for responsive governance.Experiences in Java have illustrated the importance of congruence between the design of land use interventions; the development of communication processes and the development of organizational competence. The whole range of actors involved who strive for sustainable land use - from villagers to programme managers - will have to contribute to achieving this fit. They will only be able so when they view PLANNING AS A LEARNING PROCESS.

African range cattle respond well to intensive feeding in feedlots, when maize silage based rations are fed. Maize is not drought-tolerant and is lodging-susceptible, which makes it less attractive as a forage. In a search for alternative forages, a new group of plant material is introduced: high-altitude, cold-tolerant sorghum. Some of the cultivars in this group appear to outyield maize both in terms of total dry matter and grain yield, over a large range of environmental conditions in the Kenyan highlands. Crop husbandry trials with the new sorghums and maize are reported. In an animal feeding trial the cattle performance of maize and sorghum silage based rations is compared. The introduction of new high-altitude, cold-tolerant grain type sorghums may eventually lead to a substantial increase of the area under arable agriculture in Kenya, because it will make grain production feasible in areas which were previously considered too dry for reliable grain production. A discussion of the typical problems of working on agricultural development in a developing country is given.

African range cattle respond well to intensive feeding in feedlots, when maize silage based rations are fed. Maize is not drought-tolerant and is lodging-susceptible, which makes it less attractive as a forage. In a search for alternative forages, a new group of plant material is introduced: high-altitude, cold-tolerant sorghum. Some of the cultivars in this group appear to outyield maize both in terms of total dry matter and grain yield, over a large range of environmental conditions in the Kenyan highlands. Crop husbandry trials with the new sorghums and maize are reported. In an animal feeding trial the cattle performance of maize and sorghum silage based rations is compared. The introduction of new high-altitude, cold-tolerant grain type sorghums may eventually lead to a substantial increase of the area under arable agriculture in Kenya, because it will make grain production feasible in areas which were previously considered too dry for reliable grain production. A discussion of the typical problems of working on agricultural development in a developing country is given.

The beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) occurs in Europe in pure and mixed mesophile, deciduous, dominantly broad-leaved forests belonging to the phytosociological order of the Fagetalia silvaticae. This order includes the true beech forests united into the Fagion alliance and is represented in the area considered by the Fagetum boreoatlanticum (with 5 subassociations), and the mixed beech forests belonging to the Fraxino-Carpinion and represented by the Querceto-Carpinetum medioeuropaeum (with 2 subassociations). A further subdivision into variants and subvariants was made.Some of the subassociations only occur on soils with a high watertable; others represent ultimate equilibrium stages in vegetational development under normal conditions, called climax vegetation types. Diemont concluded from his investigations that the climax types varied with the soil; nevertheless, within one climatic region, they were so much alike to be considered members of one climax swarm ('Klimaxschwarm'). However distinct differences between the floristic composition on northern or eastern slopes and on other slopes were found; within one region such types may be combined into one climax group ('Klimaxgruppe').Physical and chemical soil analysis supported the botanical classification. Climatic data were added. Some notes were included on the ephemeral vegetation occurring after removal of the forest.The natural forest types and the ecological conditions under which they occurred supplied valuable information on the most suitable tree and shrub species for reforestation and the treatment of the forest.

Highland crops was here used of tropical perennial crops (cinchona, coffee, rubber, tea), cultivated mainly in mountain districts. These crops were grown on estates, owned by western companies and managed by European staff. The organization of the highland plantation industry in Java and Sumatra, particularly South Sumatra, concerned with economic and technical interests of the estates was described in detail.Attention was paid to natural, economic, social and legal conditions under which European planters had to work.Particularly discussed problems were labour supply, important because the estates could not recruit sufficient labour from the local thin population, which disliked plantationwork. For that reason labour had to be imported from dense populated centres in Java. Importation was allowed only if estates issued labour contracts to future plantation coolies according to Government regulations (Coolie Ordinance).Besides financial and social conditions labour contracts could include penal sanctions to prevent desertion of estates by coolies. Contracts without such penal sanctions were also possible (Free Coolie Ordinance). Merits and consequences of both kinds of contracts were critically discussed.Agricultural development and results were discussed with the help of numerous figures. A map shows the position of estates, road and rail communications and distances to seaports.

The beech (Fagus sylvatica L.) occurs in Europe in pure and mixed mesophile, deciduous, dominantly broad-leaved forests belonging to the phytosociological order of the Fagetalia silvaticae. This order includes the true beech forests united into the Fagion alliance and is represented in the area considered by the Fagetum boreoatlanticum (with 5 subassociations), and the mixed beech forests belonging to the Fraxino-Carpinion and represented by the Querceto-Carpinetum medioeuropaeum (with 2 subassociations). A further subdivision into variants and subvariants was made.Some of the subassociations only occur on soils with a high watertable; others represent ultimate equilibrium stages in vegetational development under normal conditions, called climax vegetation types. Diemont concluded from his investigations that the climax types varied with the soil; nevertheless, within one climatic region, they were so much alike to be considered members of one climax swarm ('Klimaxschwarm'). However distinct differences between the floristic composition on northern or eastern slopes and on other slopes were found; within one region such types may be combined into one climax group ('Klimaxgruppe').Physical and chemical soil analysis supported the botanical classification. Climatic data were added. Some notes were included on the ephemeral vegetation occurring after removal of the forest.The natural forest types and the ecological conditions under which they occurred supplied valuable information on the most suitable tree and shrub species for reforestation and the treatment of the forest.

Highland crops was here used of tropical perennial crops (cinchona, coffee, rubber, tea), cultivated mainly in mountain districts. These crops were grown on estates, owned by western companies and managed by European staff. The organization of the highland plantation industry in Java and Sumatra, particularly South Sumatra, concerned with economic and technical interests of the estates was described in detail.Attention was paid to natural, economic, social and legal conditions under which European planters had to work.Particularly discussed problems were labour supply, important because the estates could not recruit sufficient labour from the local thin population, which disliked plantationwork. For that reason labour had to be imported from dense populated centres in Java. Importation was allowed only if estates issued labour contracts to future plantation coolies according to Government regulations (Coolie Ordinance).Besides financial and social conditions labour contracts could include penal sanctions to prevent desertion of estates by coolies. Contracts without such penal sanctions were also possible (Free Coolie Ordinance). Merits and consequences of both kinds of contracts were critically discussed.Agricultural development and results were discussed with the help of numerous figures. A map shows the position of estates, road and rail communications and distances to seaports.