The Folk Life of Afghanistan.

THOMAS BEWICK, Wood engraver, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1753–1828. Greenock, The Signet Press, 1956. Pp. 23. 2s. 6d. Reviewed by W. B.

ULSTER FOLKLIFE: Issued by the Committee on Ulster Folklife and Traditions. Belfast, 1955. Reviewed by Violet Alford.

HAFOD 16 (A Medieval Welsh Medical Treatise). By IDA B. JONES. Études celtiques, 7, pp. 46–75. 1955. [Offprint.]. Reviewed by Wilfrid Bonser.

COLONIAL BALLADS. By HUGH ANDERSON. Victoria, Rams Skull Press, l955. Pp. 157. 29s. 6d. (Austr.). Reviewed by Margaret Dean-Smith.

SEVEN CENTURIES OF POPULAR SONG. A Social History of Urban Ditties. By REGINALD NETTEL. Phoenix House, 1956. Pp. 248. 25s. Reviewed by Margaret Dean-Smith.

THE TWELVE OLYMPIANS AND THEIR GUESTS. By CHARLES SELTMAN. Max Parrish, 1956. Pp. 208. + 16 plates+map. 17s. 6d. Reviewed by J.M.     

The interpretation of the earliest evidence of Lungfish ’Protopterus sp.’ in the Nile valley. El Zakiab Site,central Sudan

El Zakiab site yielded the earliest evidence of lungfish to be recorded from the excavated prehistoric settlements in the region of the Nile valley. The study of the osteological remains of the fish, its behaviour in the absence of water, and its ecological requirements offer evidence concerning the status of the site and its surroundings with reference to human seasonal adaptation.     

Spatiotemporal Changes in Landscape Pattern in Response to Afforestation in Northeastern Turkey: A Case Study of Torul

Abstract

Monitoring and understanding of land use/forest cover dynamics as well as the factors affecting the changes in land use/forest cover are necessary for the sustainable management of natural resources. This study analyzes the spatial and temporal changes in land use and forest cover patterns in a typical mountain forest area in the Torul State Forest Enterprise area of Northeastern Turkey. The investigation evaluates the temporal changes of the spatial structure of forest conditions through the spatial analysis of forest-cover type maps from 1984 and 2005 using GIS and FRAGSTATS. The evidence presented here showed that there were drastic changes in the temporal and spatial dynamics of land use/forest cover, and between 1984 and 2005 there was a net increase of 19.9% in total forested area. Productive forest area increased by 3161 ha, although degraded forest area increased 9216 ha. In examining the changes of crown closure and development stages of the forest ecosystem during the study period, the forest stand area with low crown closures increased. The regenerated area increased because of regeneration activities while the other development stages were left to grow to older development stages in the period. These results regarding the crown closure and development stage show that forest quality has increased, and this is partly due to emigration of the rural population in Torul. In terms of spatial configuration, the landscape structure in Torul, the State Forest Enterprise area, changed substantially over the 21-year study period, resulting in fragmentation of the landscape as indicated by large patch numbers and smaller mean patch sizes, owing to heavy timber subtraction, illegal cutting, and uncontrolled stand treatments.