Questions and Topics We Can Help You To Answer
Alexander Von Humboldt was one of the most unique thinkers of the 19th century. He was an man of great energy and attention to detail, focusing on noting every observation and measurement he could along his travels and then mapping them out and looking for patterns and he used this approach to all of his investigations of elevation and biodiversity published in his famous treatise Plant Geography. You will be using your notebook in a similar fashion. To figure out the relationship between elevation and plant species he he hiked up mountains (including Chimorazo at 20,000ft) and simply wrote down the names of each of the plants as he encountered them and then made a graphic to see the overall pattern.
Check out this introduction to the basics of Humboldt’s Plant Geography looking closely at the Chimborazo illustration and then answer the following questions:
1. What aspects of the this type of illustration or technique do you like?
2. What could be improved about Humboldt's diagram that would make it more informative and how do you plan to do that when you make your "Chimborazo graphic"for the San Gabriel Mountains? You should think about how you could include slope aspect effects for example.
link:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_von_Humboldt
http://www.avhumboldt.net/index.php?page=149