Philips guide to mountains - Doug Scott

With the rapid growth in cheap worldwide travel, trekking and mountaineering have become hugely popular activities, and in their wake has come a much greater awareness of mountains as ecosystems with their own highly specialized flora and fauna, with their own needs in terms of habitat protection and conservation.Philip's Guide to Mountains brings together the many and various aspects of the study of mountains and mountain activity into a single volume.The book begins by looking at how mountains form, and then are gradually eroded away. The basic processes of mountain geology and physical geography are explained, with particular attention to the effects of snow, ice and the phenomena of avalanches. A description of the weather phenomena of mountain regions leads to a detailed account of the extreme conditions and environmental sensitivity of many mountain regions.The author explains how plants and animals are adapted to survive and describes the lifeforms found at high altitudes. The destruction of habitats, particularly by deforestation, is described, together with the harm to biodiversity that this causes. Ways in which mountain habitats may be conserved are discussedThe book then turns to mountain peoples and societies, looking at the many and diverse groups that have developed in mountain regions and the economies that sustain them. The next two chapters cover mountain sports, with particular attention to climbing, and the extraordinary history of mountaineering. Finally, the atlas section provides topographic maps of the world's major mountain regions, and describes them in detail, giving tables of geographical facts and figures such as highest peaks, population and principal rivers.Philip's Guide to Mountains will appeal to three principal groups. First, those those who study mountains and mountain wildlife, as part of a geography, geology, botany or zoology course. Second, birdwatchers and wildflower collectors. Thirdly, the large numbers of trekker