UNIVERSITY OF

ILLINOIS LIBRARY

AT URBANA-CHAMPAIGN

BIOLOGY

JUL 1

INTRODUCTION TO THE MAMMAL SURVEY OF

THE 1965 STREET EXPEDITION

TO AFGHANISTAN

JERRY D. HASSINGER

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*

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FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY

VOLUME 55, NUMBER 1

Published by

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

JUNE 28, 1968

UNIVERSITY OF HUMS

OCT 7 19G8 itRUBR"»

I IDDADV

INTRODUCTION TO THE MAMMAL SURVEY OF

THE 1965 STREET EXPEDITION

TO AFGHANISTAN

JERRY D. HASSINGER

Expedition Fellow, Division of Mammals
Field Museum of Natural History

FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY

VOLUME 55, NUMBER 1

Published by

FIELD MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY

JUNE 28, 1968

Edited by Edward G. Nash

Patricia M. Williams
Zoological Editor, Joseph Curtis Moore

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 68-26376

PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
BY FIELD MUSEUM PRESS

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

List of Text Figures 5

Introduction 7

Acknowledgements 11

Physiography 13

Climate 17

Temperature 17

Precipitation 18

Climatic Divisions 19

Population 21

Phytogeography 22

Montane Vegetation Above 3000 Meters 23

Montane Vegetation From 1500 to 3000 Meters 24

Steppe and Semi-Desert Vegetation Below 1500 Meters 25

Mammal Habitat 28

Biotopes of Dry Habitat 31

A. Mountains and Associated Terrain 31

1. Alpine Habitat Above 3000 m 31

2. Open Slopes and Plateaus Below 3000 m 34

3. Rock-covered Slopes and Plateaus 36

4. Montane Watercourses 39

B. Steppes and Semi-Deserts 40

1. Clay and Loess (including stony deserts) 40

2. Sand 42

3. Watercourses 43

C. Anthropogenic Habitat 44

1. Structures 48

Biotopes of Wet Habitat 52

A. Mountains and Associated Terrain 52

1. Conifers 52

2. Evergreen Oaks 52

3. Perennial Watercourses 54

B. Anthropogenic Habitat 55

1. Structures 55

Collecting Localities and Itinerary 57

1. Paghman and Kabul 58

2. Shibar Pass 60

3. Ishkamish and Zebak 61

4. Faizabad 62

4 CONTENTS

PAGE

5. Kunduz 63

6. Mazar-i-Sharif 64

7. Maimana 65

8. Herat 66

9. Ghazni and Gardez 67

10. Kamdesh 68

11. Jalalabad 69

12. Kandahar 70

13. Girishk 72

14. Dilaram 73

15. Qala-i-Kang 73

Table 1. The Mammals Collected by the 1965 Street Expedition to

Afghanistan 74

Gazetteer 77

Literature Cited 80

LIST OF TEXT FIGURES

TAGE

1. The natural areas and geographical relationships of Afghanistan .... 14

2. The physiogaphy of Afghanistan 16

3. Shibar Pass 32

4. Sauzak Pass 33

5. Wakhan Corridor 34

6. Low mountain on Kunar River 35

7. A mountain between Kandahar and Babi Wali 36

8. Low hills northwest of Ghazni 37

9. Seepage on Shibar Pass 38

10. Kunar River floodplain 39

11. Kabul River and adjacent rock-covered mountain 41

12. Hill of loess west of Kunduz 41

13. Clay and loess semi-desert in South Afghanistan 42

14. Sandy steppe east of Shibarghan 43

15. A peninsula of the Kandahar Oasis 45

16. A livestock route and loess hill in North Afghanistan 47

17. Fallow field and low sand dunes east of Spin Baldak 48

18. An oasis in Central Afghanistan 49

19. The Maimana Oasis and vicinity 50

20. Terraced agriculture in the Kunar River valley 50

21. Conifers in Monsoonal Afghanistan 53

22. Evergreen oak forest in Monsoonal Afghanistan 54

23. Cultivated valley near Kamdesh 55

24. A map of routes and collecting localities 56

25. Temperature variation on July 18 59

INTRODUCTION

The present paper describes the goals, organization, field work,
and observations on country traversed by the 1965 W. S. and J. K.
Street Expedition of the Field Museum of Natural History to Af-
ghanistan; and is intended as an introduction for later papers on
materials collected by the expedition. A brief introduction to the
physiography, climate, and phytogeography of Afghanistan with a
more detailed description of the habitat where we collected or ob-
served the various species of mammals is given ; followed by a narra-
tive itinerary and gazetteer of the 15 major localities visited by our
expedition. A table of the numbers and kinds of terrestrial mammals
collected in each major locality is included. It is intended to use
these specimens as the basis for a later, but more comprehensive
faunal report on the terrestrial mammals of Afghanistan. A gazetteer
of place names is included.

The primary purpose of this undertaking was to collect a geo-
graphically and ecologically representative sample of mammals from
Afghanistan, including skins and skulls, but complete skeletons of
some large animals and alcoholic specimens of nearly all of the small
species. Extensive geographic sampling of mammal ectoparasites
was a special, additional goal, important to future epidemiological
problems of the country. More limited collections of reptiles, am-
phibians, mollusks, and plants were also obtained. The expedition
was in the field from July 11, 1965 to November 22, 1965.

Expedition personnel arriving in Afghanistan from the Field
Museum of Natural History included Mr. and Mrs. W. S. Street,
co-leaders of the expedition; Mr. Hans Neuhauser, expedition fellow;
and the author as senior expedition fellow. Other expedition per-
sonnel arriving from the American University of Beirut, Beirut, Leb-
anon, included Dr. Robert E. Lewis, medical entomologist, and Mr.
Sana Atallah, expedition preparator. Three Afghans: a cook, cook's
helper, and a driver-interpreter were hired by Mr. Street in Kabul.
These nine regular members completed our party. A student from
the Kabul University Agricultural School accompanied us for two
weeks in July. Local hunters, guides, and camp help were engaged
as needed at each major collecting locality.

8 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

Special equipment included two International Harvester Model
D-1200 Travelall trucks (one having two seats, the other having four)
which were especially equipped with a heavy duty chassis, 4-wheel
drive, winch and power take-off, oversize tires, a kit of recommended
spare parts, and a storage platform and rack the full length of the out-
side top (see fig. 18) . Two spare tires were mounted on top of each
truck. Padded canvas seats were made to fit and fasten to the hub
of each spare tire. Each seat was equipped with a seat belt anchored
to the roof rack. Each truck top carried eight five-gallon Jerry cans,
six for gasoline, two for water. Gun racks were mounted inside each
vehicle on the back of the front seat. Dr. Lewis donated the use of
a Land Rover, which was also equipped with a top rack and two five-
gallon Jerry cans. With these three vehicles and the generous and
skilled help of representatives of International Harvester in Kabul,
Mr. Street kept the expedition almost constantly mobile and able to
pursue the goals we had set. To do this he also employed additional
vehicles as needed and as available.

We camped throughout Afghanistan using three nine-by-nine-
foot umbrella tents, three nine-by-eleven-foot wall tents and various
fly arrangements. Usually Mr. Street called upon the local governor
and among other things obtained permission to camp in a park in
town or on a government farm where there would be trees, potable
water, and sometimes grass. Generally, the hospitable local official
would assign police to us day and night to fend off the friendly,
curious public.

Representative ecosystems of Afghanistan were sampled by es-
tablishing a series of collecting localities, each locality unique in that
it was in a geographically, topographically, and/or botanically dif-
ferent area. I chose the following localities and was responsible for
planning the expedition itinerary; to this end I was employed by the
Field Museum of Natural History in February, 1965, about five
months prior to the late-June departure of expedition personnel for
Afghanistan.

Study of published results of earlier field studies of Afghan physi-
ography, climate, and vegetation, and earlier investigations of Af-
ghan mammals enabled me to propose an itinerary. The plan was
to collect samples of mammals from each of the different geobotan-
ical regions proposed by Linchevsky and Prozorovsky (1949, p. 209)
for Afghanistan and, in addition, localities of important previous
mammal collections, including, especially, the type localities of mam-
mal species or subspecies described from Afghanistan. These pro-

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 9

posed localities and expedition routes were carefully mapped in
advance of field work. Since mountainous areas are cool in the sum-
mer while parts of eastern and southern Afghanistan are more habit-
able in the fall and winter, and because fall and winter precipitation
in the mountains limits vehicle accessibility, it was decided to collect
in the mountainous and northern areas during the summer and in
eastern and southern Afghanistan in the fall. The ultimate itinerary
thus combined the foregoing plans with field expediency.

The most rewarding methods of collecting employed by the Street
Expedition included hunting, trapping, and purchasing specimens.

Hunting, by members of our party, was done mostly at night,
either on foot using a six-volt headlight or by truck using two 12-volt
spotlights mounted outside to the right and left of the windshield
and one still more mobile 12-volt spotlight on a ten-foot cable which
could be plugged into the cigar lighter and hand-held inside the truck
or on the roof. This mobile light proved extremely useful. Night
hunting usually started around 9:00 p.m., when it was dark enough to
pick up the reflection of our light in the eyes of a mammal otherwise
too distant to see. The four-passenger truck, and occasionally the
two-passenger truck, with two or three collectors, would sample a
predetermined area. The usual method employed was to use the
four-passenger truck, the driver manipulating a spotlight mounted
outside to the left, and another man on the front seat with the hand-
held spotlight directed to the right. Two men with weapons rode in
the back seat. Under certain conditions, such as mild weather, high
roadside banks or view-obstructing vegetation, collectors would use
the seats on top of the truck. Shotguns were used almost exclusively
for foxes, jackals, cats, hyaenas, and hares. We often collected bats
by shooting them at dusk or in the light of a spotlight. Smaller ter-
restrial animals, particularly jerboas and hedgehogs, were run down
and netted, assuring undamaged specimens. When collected, most
of the animals were immediately put into a cotton sack, which was
then tied shut to entrap any ectoparasites, which otherwise frequently
leave their host in response to handling or body cooling. Gazelle,
ibex, and a markhor were collected by hired local hunters.

The majority of the smaller terrestrial mammals were trapped
using Museum special and rat-size snap traps. To a lesser extent,
steel traps, mole traps, and mist nets were employed, steel traps with
least success. Mist nets, stretched across cave entrances were used
to obtain series of cave-dwelling species of bats. Trapped specimens
were immediately placed in cotton sacks to prevent loss or exchange

10 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

of their ectoparasites. Different habitats and altitudes were trapped
around each major camp. Traps were carefully located or were
marked with a reflective marker which could be easily located in the
light of a flashlight. This technique has recently been described by
Lewis (1967, p. 146) . Traps were usually checked and retrieved while
night hunting. Occasionally they were collected at dawn. This pro-
cedure reduced the amount of time the trapped animals were exposed
to ants or predators and also assured a better collection of ectopara-
sites from each animal.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

It is a pleasure to express my sincere thanks to William S. Street
and his wife, Janice K. Street, who, in collaboration with the Field
Museum of Natural History, are responsible for the support and suc-
cessful execution of this expedition; representing their second quest
for Middle Eastern mammals. In keeping with the goals of their first
expedition to Iran they provided for Expedition Fellowships to
enable graduate students in mammalogy to participate in and make
contributions to the expedition. To this end my Fellowship was ini-
tiated six months prior to the departure of the expedition to Afghani-
stan and was continued for six months after the expedition's return
to the Field Museum of Natural History. Our travels throughout
Afghanistan were made possible by the tireless efforts of Mr. Street
in gaining us access to virtually every locality on our planned itin-
erary. Mr. and Mrs. Street not only provided skillful leadership, but
enthusiastically embraced every scientific endeavor of such an under-
taking, including the collecting and preparation of many specimens.

The International Harvester Company donated one of the expe-
dition's vehicles and, in addition, many complex logistical problems
were generously and skillfully expedited by service representatives of
their company in Karachi and Kabul. We are particularly grateful to
Mr. Brian Reardon, whose generosity did not end with seeing that our
trucks received proper maintenance: he and Mrs. Reardon extended
their warm and most welcome hospitality at every opportunity.

I am especially indebted to Dr. R. E. Lewis and Mr. Sana Atallah
whose willing and expert help in collecting and preparing specimens
contributed much to the success of the expedition. Dr. Lewis also
provided the use of a vehicle1 and his personal collecting equipment.
I also want to thank Mr. Hans Neuhauser who recorded literally
thousands of fresh weights and measurements, and who is responsible
for a future report on the bats collected by the expedition.

The maps are the work of Miss Marion Pahl, Staff Artist of the
Field Museum of Natural History. Mrs. Dorothy Gibson, also on

1 National Institutes of Health Grant AI-05512-01 TMP funds purchased this
Land Rover for Dr. Lewis' field work on Near Eastern fleas.

11

12 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

the staff of the Field Museum, provided the identifications used here
of the plants collected in Afghanistan. I am very appreciative of
these contributions.

Gratitude is extended to Dr. Joseph Curtis Moore whose helpful
advice and suggestions were much needed and appreciated, as was
his skillful editing of the manuscript.

I am grateful for support by a Thomas J. Dee Fellowship of the
Field Museum of Natural History during ten months (August 1966-
May 1967) of the preparation of this report.

PHYSIOGRAPHY

Afghanistan lies landlocked near the middle of the Eurasian conti-
nent, between lat. 30°25' and 38°31' N and long. 60°45' and 72°00' E.
A finger-like projection, the Wakhan Corridor, extends north-east to
74°51' E. The total area of Afghanistan is about 720,000 sq. km.
which approximates the size of Texas and is double the size of Great
Britain and Ireland combined. Afghanistan is bounded on the north
by three republics of the U.S.S.R.: Turkmeniya, Uzbekistan, and
Tadjhikistan; on the northeast by the province of Sinkiang, China;
on the east, south, and southwest by Kashmir and West Pakistan;
and on the west by Iran (Persia). Figure 1 illustrates these geo-
graphic relationships, and also shows Humlum's (1959, map, p. 103)
subdivision of Afghanistan into "natural regions"; each region being
based upon a correlation of climatology and orography. These re-
gions, when referred to in this paper, will be capitalized.

Part of Afghanistan with the province of Baluchistan in West
Pakistan makes up the eastern part of the Iranian Plateau. This
mountain-rimmed plateau rises between the valleys of the Indus
River in the east, the Tigris River in the west, the Oxus River (Amu
Darya) to the north, and ends along the Persian and Oman gulfs
and the Arabian Sea on the south. The most northwestern extension
of the Iranian Plateau is represented by the Caucasus Mountains.
The Paropamisus and Hindu Kush ranges, mountains of central
and northern Afghanistan, link the plateau with the Pamirs to the
northeast and the Himalayas to the east (see fig. 2). The natural
region designated North Afghanistan (see fig. 1), which lies north of
the Hindu Kush and south of the Oxus River, is a continuation of
the Central Asian steppe, or the Kara Kum Basin as illustrated by
Gansseer (1964, plate 1, part B).

Afghanistan is characterized by three major topographical re-
gions, each diagrammatically illustrated in Figure 2. These regions,
in order of diminishing altitude, are: 1) the centrally-located Hindu
Kush mountain range with a NE-SW axis, and its auxiliary ranges,
the Paropamisus and Koh-i-Baba; 2) the generally barren and rugged
foothills of these ranges giving rise to more peripheral, gently-sloping
alluvial fans and steppes; and 3) the lower steppes and deserts.

13

14

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 15

The highest mountains of Afghanistan occur in the Wakhan, im-
mediately south of an orographic region frequently referred to as the
Pamir Knot. From this region mountains radiate fanwise south-
westward, gradually decreasing in height to the peripheral steppes and
deserts of North, Northwest, West, South, and Southeast Afghanistan.
The general elevation of the Hindu Kush mountain range declines
from 7690 m. (Tirich Mir) near the west end of the Wakhan Corridor
to the Salang Pass (3627 m.) north of Kabul and disappears between
500 and 1000 m. in the northwest and in the low plains and deserts
of the southwest. The Hindu Kush proper descends from the Wak-
han Corridor and forks off to the west as the 1000 to 4000 m. Paro-
pamisus range separating the Hari Rud from the Murghab Valley
and ending in northwestern Afghanistan near the Iranian border. The
Koh-i-Baba range, with several spurs, and with peaks as high as
5090 m., is a continuation of the Hindu Kush in Central Afghanistan.

The large Helmand River and the smaller Khash, Farah, and
Harut rivers of south and southwestern Afghanistan have no outlet
to the sea. They flow to the southwest desert depression of a former
lake bed known as the Sistan, which extends across the Afghan -
Iranian border. The Murghab and the Hari Rud, with headwaters
in the Paropamisus and Koh-i-Baba ranges respectively, are the larg-
est rivers rising in northwestern Afghanistan and end in the sands of
the Kara Kum Desert within Turkmeniya. The Oxus River de-
marks Afghanistan's northern boundary for approximately 1150 km.
It originates in the high mountains of the Wakhan region and even-
tually empties into the Aral Sea in Uzbekistan. The Kunduz River
in North Afghanistan and the Kokcha River in Badakhshan, unlike
other rivers of this area which are completely consumed in the irri-
gation of the land, empty into the Amu Darya. The Kabul, Alingar,
and Kunar rivers, and their tributaries drain an orographically-corr-
plicated series of mountains in Nuristan, Monsoonal and north East
Afghanistan. The highest elevations of these mountains range from
4755 m. in the Safed Koh Range, which is south and southeast of
Jalalabad, to 5425 m. near the headwaters of the Alingar and Kunar
rivers in Nuristan. These two rivers join the Kabul River, which
flows to the southeast and empties into the Indus in West Pakistan.

Fig. 1. The natural areas and geographic relationships of Afghanistan.

16

CLIMATE

Reliable data on the climate of Afghanistan is scarce, since prior
to 1939 weather was only recorded in Kabul. Eight additional mete-
orological stations were established between 1939 and 1943, under the
direction of E. Stenz. Using data obtained from these stations and
from adjacent observatories in Russia and India, Stenz (1946, pp.
1-14; 1957, pp. 245-266) describes the main climatic features of
Afghanistan, particularly its precipitation, evaporation, and aridity.

Afghanistan is an arid country having a continental climate, the
latter being reflected by intense and rapid daily and seasonal tem-
perature variations. The magnitude of these characteristics appears
to be influenced by five factors as follows:

1) High plateaus in East Afghanistan and high mountains, the
latter, especially in the Wakhan region, having permanent
ice and snow.

2) The extent of Indian monsoons, which according to Stenz
(1946, p. 3) may reach to 30 km. west of Kabul.

3) Desiccating winds such as the "hot and dry wind of 120 days"
that blows between May and September from the area of
Herat across the Sistan basin.

4) The Kara Kum, Jalalabad, and Sistan basins, which by virtue
of their locations and low elevation (less than 1000 m.) have
scant and sporadic rainfall (0-250 mm. per year), a mean
January temperature above freezing and a mean July tem-
perature above 32°C. (Humlum, 1959, pp. 57, 59, 61).

5) Riparian vegetation and oases, which according to Borisov
(1965, p. 179) commenting on oases characteristic of those
found in the deserts of Central Asia, including those of North
Afghanistan, at the height of the summer can have ambient
temperatures three degrees C° cooler than those recorded in
the surrounding deserts.

Temperature: The yearly mean temperature at Kabul (1790 m.,
13-year record) is 11.5°C with a mean maximum of 19.6°C and a

Fig. 2. Major natural features of Afghanistan and the geobotanical provinces
of Linchevsky and Prozorovsky (1949).

17

18 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

mean minimum of 3.8°C (Stenz, 1946, p. 1). Stenz (1946, p. 1) re-
marks: "The continental character of the annual course of tempera-
ture at Kabul is conspicuous; the absolute limits of variation are so
far 37.7°C and -25.8°C, thus the range being 63.5°C. Correspond-
ing range for mean monthly temperature is 27.4°C."

Humlum (1959, pp. 57, 59) provides isothermal maps. These
maps are approximations based on the best available information.
Mean January and July temperatures, as illustrated by Humlum are,
respectively, for South Afghanistan above +6°C, and above 32°C;
for the foothills and plateaus most of which are found between 1500
and 3000 m. (see fig. 2) +6°C to -6°C and 23°C to 32°C; and for
the higher mountain massifs below — 6°C and below 23°C. The
coldest temperatures will be found in the Wakhan region at high ele-
vations. Stenz (1946, p. 2) lists — 17.2°C as the mean temperature
for the coldest month of the year recorded at a Russian station,
Pamirski Post (38°11'N, 74°02'E, 3653 m.) immediately north of the
Wakhan. North and South Afghanistan are almost equally hot.
The warmest month recorded at Girishk (31°50'N, 64°35'E, 945 m.)
was 33°C (Stenz, 1946, p. 2), while Borisov (1965, p. 179) gives 32°C
as the mean July 1965 temperature recorded at Termez, U.S.S.R.
(37°13'N, 67°15'E, 302 m.) on Afghanistan's northern border.

Stenz (1957, p. 260) expresses the thermal continentality of Af-
ghanistan on a scale, the zero per cent of which corresponds to a
purely oceanic climate, and the 100 per cent to the most continental
climate in the world at Werkhoiansk in northeast Siberia. He cal-
culates that Kabul, as well as South and West Afghanistan, shows
about 60 per cent while the high plateaus in the East, excluding
Kabul, show 70 per cent continentality. On the other hand, Stenz
shows Jalalabad as having 50 per cent continentality, while Parachi-
nar (south of Jalalabad in W. Pakistan) is even lower with 41 per
cent. From the foregoing, Stenz concludes that Monsoonal Afghani-
stan and the Jalalabad Vale: "... is a transitive region between the
main Afghan area and India where the continentality is less."

The continentality of Afghanistan is exemplified by records kept
by the Street Expedition. We operated a (model 61 5C Pandux)
one-week, continuously recording thermometer in an aerated, shady
location at each camp. The mean daily temperature variation for
53 days in the field between July 12 and November 22 was 18.3°C.

Precipitation: The mean yearly precipitation given by Stenz (1946
p. 2) is: for Kabul 300 mm. (16-year record); Jalalabad 185 mm'
(three years); Kandahar 192 mm. (five years); and Herat 201 mm*

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 19

(four years). The smallest mean annual precipitation of 40 mm.
(Mushkichah, 29°01'N, 62°26'E, seven-year record) and 53 mm.
(Nastratabad, 31°01'N, 61°30'E, 25-year record) was recorded in
the Sistan Basin. Humlum (1959, p. 61) illustrates Monsoonal Af-
ghanistan as having a mean annual rainfall in excess of 400 mm.
Stenz (1946, p. 2) shows a mean of 750 mm. per annum for a 25-year
record kept at a weather station in West Pakistan, but near the bor-
der of south Monsoonal Afghanistan, almost 19 times as much pre-
cipitation as recorded farther west in the Sistan.

Humlum (1959, p. 61) provides a map of approximate precipita-
tion zones. South, West, Northwest, and North Afghanistan, the
Wakhan and the Jalalabad Vale receive a mean annual precipitation
of less than 200 mm.; the mountains and plateaus of Badakhshan,
Central Afghanistan, East Afghanistan, and Nuristan get from 200
to 400 mm. per year; while parts of Nuristan, the Paghman moun-
tains due west of Kabul, and Monsoonal Afghanistan may receive a
mean annual precipitation in excess of 400 mm.

According to Stenz (1946, pp. 4-10), the effect of precipitation on
soil moisture and vegetation in this dry country is chiefly governed
by evaporation. A map by Borisov (1965, p. 69), of evaporation
potentials for the Soviet Provinces abutting Afghanistan suggests
that the Wakhan with a mean annual precipitation of less than
200 mm. will have an annual potential evaporation near 500 mm.,
while Northwest Afghanistan with 200 mm. of rain per year has an
annual potential evaporation near 2000 mm. The smaller amount of
precipitation in the Wakhan would be more effective on soil moisture
and vegetation.

Climatic Divisions: Stenz (1946) reviews the climatic divisions of
Afghanistan as proposed by Koppen (1931), Thorn waite (1933), and
Trewartha (1943) on their generalized climatic maps of the world
and the more specific divisions as proposed by Vavilov and Bukinich
(1929, pp. 536, 537). He concludes that climatic divisions differ
more or less according to various authors but one trait is common,
namely, all the authors stress the variety of climates and distinguish
from three to six climatic zones. The approximative nature of these
zones and their vague boundaries serve only to emphasize the lack
of systematic weather records. Stenz (1946, p. 12) gives another
climatic map which, like its predecessors, ". . . is rough and approxi-
mate." Nevertheless, it appears to show some agreement with geo-
botanical maps and is considerably more refined than previous maps.

20 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

Stenz (1946, p. 4) cites an equation for determining an aridity
factor, the upper (dry) limit of which is 100 per cent, while the zero
represents an extremely wet climate. He comments that this factor,
"... being based on the temperature range, precipitation and latitude
expresses the combined effect of thermal continentality and rainfall
variability."

Afghanistan has desert, steppe, moderate, and extreme climatic
zones, according to Stenz (1946, pp. 11-13). The desert zone (or the
semi-arid, subtropical desert with dry summers of Thornwaite, 1933,
and Trewartha, 1943), which Stenz defines as having the mean tem-
perature of the coldest month above — 5°C and over 40 per cent
aridity, is found in South and West Afghanistan.

The steppe climate zone is characterized by 20 to 40 per cent arid-
ity and a mean temperature in the coldest month above — 5°C ; this is
illustrated as occurring adjacent to the foothills of South and West
Afghanistan, and in Northwest and North Afghanistan. The Jalala-
bad Vale has a steppe climate, but with an especially mild winter.
The mean temperature in the coldest month is above 8°C. The ex-
treme climate of Stenz's system occurs in East and Central Afghani-
stan, Badakhshan, Nuristan, and the Wakhan. This zone, irrespective
of aridity, has a mean temperature in the coldest month below — 5°C
and in the warmest month above 10°C. The moderate climate of
Stenz characterizes Monsoonal regions, the Kunduz Valley, and the
Kabul and Kunar River valleys with aridity less than 20 per cent
and the temperature in the coldest month above — 5°C. A border
strip of Monsoonal Afghanistan also has a moderate climate, but
with the coldest month's temperature above 0°C.

POPULATION

The majority of Afghanistan's population is concentrated on a
series of oases, which are peripheral to the central mountain massifs.
There has not yet been a door-to-door census, but Wilber (1962a,
p. 33), in a critical analysis of published estimates, suggests that nine
million people would be a reasonable estimate. This figure includes
two million nomads and an urban population of about 900,000. Ac-
cording to Wilber, ". . . no official rural-urban breakdown is available,
and the reliability of figures on the towns and larger villages is very
doubtful. Assuming an urban population of 900,000, i.e., one-tenth
of the total, it can be estimated that Kabul now holds some 250,000
people. The urban centers fall into the general groups: towns of
probably more than 75,000 people (Kabul, Kandahar, Herat, Mazar-
i-Sharif ) ; towns estimated to be between 25,000 and 75,000 (Andkhui,
Jalalabad, Maimana, Tashqurghan) ; and some 15 or 20 towns of
about 10,000 people."

The people of Afghanistan have a variety of ethnic backgrounds.
The largest groups are the Push tuns (speaking Pushtu, an Indo-
Iranian language), which appear to number over half of the total
population; the Tajiks (speaking Persian), about a third; and the
Uzbeks and Turkomans (speaking Turkic languages), about an eighth
(Wilber, 1962a, pp. 34 and 36-65). In 1936 Pushtu was declared the
official language of Afghanistan. Pushtu, like Persian, is written in
the Arabic alphabet but utilizes additional letters.

A detailed description of the people, society, and culture of Af-
ghanistan is given by Wilber (1962a), who represents his work as,
"... a collation and synthesis of the best and most authoritative
materials available on the country, including foreign and unpublished
information." Wilber (1962b) has also compiled an Annotated Bibli-
ography of Afghanistan which may supply the student beginning re-
search on virtually any Afghan subject with access to existing, related
knowledge.

21

PHYTOGEOGRAPHY

The arrangement of categories in the following phytogeographical
treatment is my own. However, comments on the kinds of vegeta-
tion and where it is found are, with only those exceptions identified
as such, drawn from the works of Linchevsky and Prozorovsky (1949,
pp. 179-214) and Kitamura (1960, pp. 1-18). The present author's
phytoecological observations, with lists of plants collected by the
expedition, are given in the next section titled : mammal habitat.

Vegetation is divided into three broad topographical divisions
according to elevations, which are in order of descending altitude as
follows: Montane Vegetation above 3000 m.; Montane Vegetation
from 1500 to 3000 m., and Steppe and Semi-desert Vegetation below
1500 m. Figure 2 illustrates the elevational divisions used in the
present paper and the geobotanical provinces of Linchevsky and
Prozorovsky (1949).

I observed, that, exclusive of irrigated oases and the local forests
of conifers and evergreen oaks in Monsoonal Afghanistan, the vege-
tation to be exceedingly scant and xerophytic, reflecting not only the
continental nature of this country's climate, but also its varied to-
pography and substrate.

According to Linchevsky and Prozorovsky (1949, p. 185) the soils
of Afghanistan consist mostly of sierozyoms1 distinguished by low
humus (1 -3%) and high carbonate content. Except for the loess
foothills of North Afghanistan, I observed the mountains, valleys,
and alluvial fans to be mostly covered with superficial deposits of
rock and coarse gravel; organic detritus was negligible and soil was
generally hard packed or feebly developed. Areas of poor drainage
and high evaporation, such as the Helmand Basin, river valleys and
oases, had solanchak soils that typically supported salt tolerant spe-
cies of Chenopodiaceae. In local areas of northern and southwestern
Afghanistan, we skirted sand dunes while driving on deserts of hard-
pan clay, or "pebbles" (= alluvium derived from nearby mountains).

1 Sierozyom soils are pedocals (=arid soils) or gray soils of cool to temperate
arid regions, usually under shrub and grass vegetation.

22

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 23

The greatest differences in vegetation due to local variations in
topography seem to be associated with ground moisture and slope.
In the montane forests of eastern Afghanistan that receive moisture
from the Indian monsoons, hillside depressions and valleys have more
vegetation than adjacent higher areas with more rapid run-off. Sau-
zak Kotal (=pass) in the northwest had juniper trees on north-facing
slopes, but was relatively treeless on the south-facing slopes. Hilltops
and deep ravines often lacked vegetation, apparently because of the
erosive action of wind and water.

Montane Vegetation Above 3000 Meters: According to Humlum
(1959, p. 17), East Afghanistan, Nuristan, Badakhshan, Wakhan,
and Central Afghanistan have respectively 2.2, 40.8, 27.5, 82.9, and
24.1 per cent of their total land masses above 3000 m. or a total of
10.5 per cent of Afghanistan is found above 3000 m.1

Eyre (1963, map 3) considers the high montane regions in Af-
ghanistan to be covered with a climatic climax of alpine vegetation.

The following comments are mainly drawn from Linchevsky and
Prozorovsky's (1949, pp. 179-214) and Kitamura's (1960, pp. 1-18)
treatment of vegetation found above 3000 m.

Alpine and sub-alpine areas are generally dry having a prepon-
derance of drought-resistant vegetation on stony soils. The vegeta-
tion of these cold deserts is chiefly wormwood, Artemisia, and teresken,
Eurotia, sometimes with a proportionately large amount of steppe
grasses of the genera Fescue and Stipa. Dense hemispherical clumps
(=tragacanth vegetation) of Acantholimon, Astragalus, and spiny
Cousinia, often interspersed with low sedge meadows of Atropis and
Cobresia, are common. Scattered through these cold, desert com-
munities are shrubs of the genera Berberis, Rosa, and Ephedra and
forbs such as Polygonum affine, Anphalis contorta, and Trigonella
griffithii. The annual herb Potentilla and the large umbellifer Ferula
are found in dry, rocky terrain. Drier slopes, especially south -facing
slopes, have few trees, the herbaceous vegetation being sparse or ab-
sent. Juniperus seravschanica or J. communis occur on such slopes,
often depressed and covering the ground with many branches.

In Nuristan little or no vegetation is found in regions with per-
manent ice and snow, usually above 3500 m. Lower, in areas with
sufficient subsurface soil moisture one finds copses of scrub willow,
juniper, or the popular, Populus nigra. Shrubs such as Rosa webbi-

1 Humlum considers the highest elevation in Monsoonal Afghanistan to be
below 3000 m.; however, coniferous woodlands characteristic of this natural area
extend above 3000 m.

24 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

ana and Polygonum glaberrium may form dense thickets along streams.
Monsoonal Afghanistan supports at least seven conifers. The moist
coniferous understory contains many shrubs and small trees such as
Astragalus, Rhododendron, Ribes, Lonicera, and Prunus. Below
3200 m. Paludan (1959, p. 27) describes Pinus excelsa, Abies webbi-
ana, and Picea morinda from moist, northwest facing slopes. Drier
southeast slopes had Cedrus deodora and Pinus gerardiana. Immedi-
ately above these forests, junipers, Juniperus polycarpos and J. com-
munis, occupy a narrow belt of 200 m. This belt is commonly found
between 3000 and 3400 m. Scattered between the trees and shrubs
and on slopes and plateaus with sufficient humidity are species of
Poa, Atropis, Elymus, Alopecurus, Carex, Juncus, Scirpus, and numer-
ous forbs — e.g., Oxytropis, Potentilla, Cerastium, Draba, Delphinium,
and Rheum. Wet meadows may have the low sedge Cobresia cover-
ing the ground with a continuous sod.

Montane Vegetation From 1500 to 3000 Meters: Humlum (1959,
p. 17) gives no figures for the zone 1500 to 3000 m. comparable to
those given for areas above 3000 m. ; however, an idea of the approxi-
mate area involved can be seen when Humlum's figures for eleva-
tions between 1800 and 3000 m. are examined. For this zone, North,
East, South, West, Northwest, and Central Afghanistan, Monsoonal
Afghanistan, Nuristan, Wakhan, and Badakhshan have respectively
16.3, 82.3, 0.3, 3.0, 29.7, 59.8, 20.4, 41.4, 17.1, and 36.2 per cent of
their land masses encompassed by these elevations, or a total of 33.1
per cent of Afghanistan is found between 1800 and 3000 m. The
figure for the zone from 1500 to 3000 m. would very likely be close
to 40 per cent.

Eyre (1963, map 3) postulates that within the boundaries encom-
passed by these altitudes the following three major plant communi-
ties are in a stable equiliberium with climate and soil: 1) Semi-desert
Shrub, 2) Deciduous Summer Forest, and 3) Tropical Montane For-
ests with conifers.

The semi-desert shrub is encompassed by the South Turkestan
Ephemeral Province and the Afghan -Iran Desert Province shown in
Figure 2. Plant communities within the semi-desert scrub contain
medium herbage, semi-shrub, and shrub vegetation with steppe
meadows and some trees. Some ecological dominants of these com-
munities are: wormwood, species of Artemisia) teresken, Eurotia sp.;
tragacanthoid, Acantholimonsip. and Cousinia; the saltwort, Salsola
sp.; the umbellifer, Ferula sp.; Carex spp.; Stipa spp.; and trees such
as pistachio, Pistacia vera.

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 25

Eyre confines the deciduous summer forest community to the
northern slopes of the Hindu Kush-Paropamisus mountain ranges.
The following comments taken from the treatment of this vegetation
by Linchevsky and Prozorovsky (1949) and Agakhanyants et al.
(1963, pp. 100-103) indicate that it is not a forest as such, but more
typically an admixture of open woodland and semi-desert scrub.
This community is limited to the southern edge of the South Turke-
stan Ephemeral Province. At elevations around 1500 m. medium
herbage and semi-shrubs with patches of ephemeral vegetation are
dispersed over south-facing slopes. At 1500 m. scattered Pistacia
vera are found on an Artemisia, Artemisia-Salsola, Artemisia-Car ex,
and tall grass steppe. Artemisia deserts with a mixture of Hammada
leptoclada, Mepeta, and Ziziphora sp. were found above 2000 m.;
Acantholimon, Acanthophyllum, and Ephedra appeared at 2700 m.
Trees living on north-facing slopes near 1500 m. may include Juni-
perus seravschanica, Juglans sp., Fraxinus, and Acer sp. Species of
willows, Salix spp., and poplars, Populus sp., grow along river and
stream banks.

Steppe and Semi-Desert Vegetation Below 1500 Meters: According
to Humlum (1959) 56.4 per cent of Afghanistan is found below
1800 m., or about 50.0 per cent will be found below 1500 m. Its dis-
tribution, as given by Humlum for terrain below 1800 m., is respec-
tively 83.7, 15.5, 99.7, 97.0, 70.3, 16.1, and 79.6 per cent for North,
East, South, West, Northwest, Central, and Monsoonal Afghanistan,
and 17.8, 36.2, and 0.0 per cent for Nuristan, Badakhshan, and
Wakhan. I have separated the Jalalabad Vale from Monsoonal
Afghanistan. All of the Jalalabad Vale is found below 1800 m.;
therefore, the 79.6 per cent given for Monsoonal Afghanistan is con-
sidered to be high.

Much of the land below 1500 m. consists of wide valleys and ex-
pansive semi-deserts. Most of the irrigated land and many large
oases are located in this zone.

Parts of Eyre's (1963) Semi-Desert Scrub, Deciduous Summer
Forest, and Tropical Montane Forest with conifers are also found in
this zone. However, for elevations near 500 m. two new formations
are given. At this low altitude the Semi-Desert Scrub is replaced
by climatic climax formations of Desert Vegetation and Tropical-
Desert Scrub, which are limited respectively to a narrow strip along
the border of North Afghanistan and to extreme southwestern Af-
ghanistan.

26 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

The South Turkestan Ephemeral Province (fig. 2) is distin-
guished by a zone of ephemeral sedge-meadow-grass vegetation be-
low 600 m., on a belt of coarse shrub-sedge-meadow-grass vegetation
and pistachio communities 600 to 1100 m., and a zone of medium-
herb, perennial vegetation with pistachio and scrub communities
from 900 to 1800 m. In this same province Agakhanyants et al.
(1963) describe belts of vegetation from near Puli-Khumri and Kun-
duz: ". . . the Afghanistan -Turkestan type, also characteristic of
South Tadzhikistan has foothills and lowlands with short grass semi-
savannas and associations including Hordeum leporinum, Thaenia-
therum crinitum, Aegilops squarrosa, Lagonychium farctum, and Ham-
mado leptoclada, 400-800 m.; desert associations of H. leptoclada with
Peganum harmala, and higher Artemisia maritima with an admixture
of H. leptoclada and Carex pachystylis, 650-1300 m.; and Pistacia
vera on an Artemisia, Artemisia- Salsola, Artemisia-Car ex, and tall
grass semi-savanna higher than 1300 m." Kitamura (1960, p. 8)
sampled a hill near Kunduz and found: ". . . the vegetation was very
sparse composed of the following grasses and herbs: Hordium lepori-
num, Diarthron vesiculosum, Phlomis olga, Heliotropium lasiocarpium,
and Peganum harmala." From the same zone, 1200-1400 m., he de-
scribes steppe grasses: "Sorghum halepinse, Echinochloa crusgalli, Lo-
lium loliaceum, Pennisetum dichotomum, plus Aeluropus littoralis from
saline soils and Cynodon dactylon on loess hills."

The Afghan -Iranian Desert Province (fig. 2) is characterized by
a zone below 1200 m. with a predominance of semi-shrubby vege-
tation, notably pure Artemisia and Salsola communities occupying
the plains and foothills, semi-shrubs and bunch grasses on sand, and
meadows and tree-shrub vegetation in the river valleys where there
is a high level of sub-soil water. Near 1000 m. there is a preponder-
ance of ephemeral Artemisia and Stipa- Artemisia desert communities
principally on the rubbly slopes of medium and low altitude moun-
tains. Kitamura (1960, p. 7) describes the herbs Peganum harmala,
Zygophyllum fabago, Heliotropium lasiocarpum, and the spinous shrub
Prosopis stephaniana from a roadside near Kandahar. Additionally:
"Citrullus colocynthus was found in sandy places. Artemisia mari-
tima is widely distributed, usually covering the mountain slopes on
saline soils. Other chenopodiaceous plants forming communities in
this zone are Halocharis violacia, Suaeda salsa, Salsola kali and an
endemic of Afghanistan Halarchon vesiculosus. On a plain north of
Kalat-i-Ghilzai, Artemisia maritima and Launaea tomentella were
dominant, mixed with Linaria peganum, Othonnopsis and Astragalus.
The plants stand 1 to 2 m. apart."

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 27

The Indo-Himalayan Forest Province is characterized below
1200 m. by a zone of sub-tropical steppes and deserts, commonly with
grass communities and thickets of sub-tropical shrubs. Above 1200 m.
oak woods with varying amounts of undergrowth constitute a zone
of scrub and deciduous woodland. The Jalalabad Vale is, in part,
drier than most of this zone. Here, around 500 m., spiny Acacia
modesta, and succulent Calotropis procera are characteristic shrubs.
Withania coagrans and Apocyaceous Rhazia stricta grow on rocky
terrain. Scattered communities of Artemisia maritima occur on
mountain slopes. Near Chigha-Sarai Cannabis sativa was abundant.
North of Chigha-Sarai along the Pech River, between 820 and
1020 m., the vegetation is sparse and composed of dwarf shrubs —
e.g., Dodonaea, Daphne, Nerium, and Kdtschyi. Stony terraces along
the river had pomegranate communities, Puncia granatum, and Zizy-
phus jujuba. On rubbly soils Rumex hastatus was dominant with an
admixture of Cirsium, Erigeron, Aster, Potentilla, and Bupleurum.
Above 1020 m. the southeast slopes of mountains were covered with
Quercus baloot. At the lowest elevations, around 1020 m., it ap-
peared sparsely as a dwarf shrub; higher, it increased in number and
size. Some slopes had a continuous covering of these trees. Olea,
Pistacia, Ficus, Zizyphus, and Puncia appeared intermittently
among the oaks. Among rocks scrub communities of Sageretia,
Daphne, Indigofera, and Cotoneaster were found. Scrubby Spiraea
tomentosa and Rosa webbiana were abundant. Riverine meadows
contained many genera of herbs, for example, Polygonum, Geranium,
Clematis, Astragalus, and Impatiens. In drier meadows genera of
Gramineae, i.e., Saccharum, Chrysopogon, Pennisetum, Apluda, and
Thyrsia, may predominate. Ferula jaeschkiana, a tall umbellifer,
is distributed throughout Nuristan. On rocks, clumps of drought-
resistant herbs such as Bupleurum, Campanula, Erigeron, Astragalus,
Cousinia, and Viola were growing. Some mosses and ferns were ob-
served in the more humid environments.

MAMMAL HABITAT

In the present paper interest in vegetation is strictly limited to
what the vegetation contributes to the mammalian habitat and
to what extent it may influence or correlate with the distribution of
mammal species. It seems to me that the phytogeography depicted
by the authors quoted in the foregoing section is not based upon suf-
ficient sampling or original field observations in Afghanistan to pro-
vide adequately natural subdivisions to which to compare our evidence
on Afghan mammal distribution. With this in mind it was decided
to characterize the topography, substrate, and vegetation, so as to fur-
nish comparative data of this kind on the places where we collected
and observed the various species of mammals. These characteristics,
either alone or combined, may represent distinguishable ecosystems,
any of which may harbor species of mammals locally restricted to it.
I am calling these areas biotopes.

The most obvious factor determining the local differences be-
tween habitats in Afghanistan is water. Dry habitat in different
geographic regions of Afghanistan resemble each other more than
wet habitat resembles dry in the same geographic region. The great-
est contrasts in the nature of habitat are seen when one compares
anthropogenic habitat1 with non-anthropogenic habitat, montane
areas in Monsoonal Afghanistan with arid mountain areas, or moun-
tains with deserts. It follows that a broad classification of habitats
and a more specific delineation of biotopes having different water
regimes, substrate and /or topography associated with different kinds
and/or amounts of vegetation is needed, especially with respect to
the ecology of mammals. A quantified classification of the physiog-
nomy and density of vegetation is desirable, and the following system
will be used :

Density — Low: less than one plant per 4 sq. m.; Medium: one to 16
plants per 4 sq. m.; High: more than 16 plants per 4 sq. m.

1 Anthropogenic habitat is any habitat induced or altered by the presence and
activities of man. This kind of habitat is superimposed upon the natural habitat
of Afghanistan. There are degrees of anthropogeny, the highest being found in
urban areas, the lowest in high mountains and dry deserts. Mammals found only
in habitat with a high degree of anthropogeny will be termed synanthropes (with
man) or synanthropic mammals.

28

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 29

Shade — Low: less than 25 per cent of the ground shaded at noon;
Medium: from 25 to 75 per cent of the ground shaded at noon;
High: more than 75 per cent of the ground shaded at noon.

Strata — One: plants all rising but little above ground level, usually
herbs and grasses; Two: two levels of height attained by plants,
usually herbs and higher shrubs, but also other combinations; Three:
three levels attained by different types of plants, usually herbs,
shrubs, and trees.

Distribution — Clumped: clumps of vegetation in representative 25
sq. m. plot separated by strips and patches of barren soil; Even:
vegetation in representative 25 sq. m. plot evenly distributed; Irreg-
ular: vegetation clumped and evenly distributed.

Homogeneity [This term is used to delineate the size and uniformity
of the particular vegetation association being described. For exam-
ple, vegetation along a river bank or within many oases is usually
characterized by "low homogeneity" because less than 500 m. beyond
the river or oasis the soil will be drier supporting vegetation with a
notably different density and physiognomy (see fig. 19)1 — Low: dif-
ferent vegetation association less than 0.5 km. away; Medium:
different vegetation between 0.5 and 1.0 km. away; High: different
vegetation more than 1.0 km. away.

These characterics of the vegetation will be derived from analyses
of photographs and slides of the biotopes and by notes and observa-
tion made in the field, but not, however regrettably, from measure-
ments or comparative estimates made in the field.

A listing of plants collected by the expedition will be given for
each biotope. In parentheses after each plant is a number or num-
bers corresponding to the major localities (fig. 24) wherein the plant
was collected from the biotope in question. With few exceptions, only
plants which occurred frequently or appeared to be ecologically dom-
inant were collected.

The biotopes of Afghanistan will be discussed under two major
headings and five subheadings as follows:

I. Dry Habitat: having less than 400 mm. of precipitation per
year. Humlum (1959, p. 17) includes 97.5 per cent of Afghanistan
in this category, as only Monsoonal Afghanistan has more than
400 mm. of precipitation per year. The major subdivisions of dry
habitat are: A, Mountains and Associated Terrain; B, Steppes and
Semi-Deserts, and C, Anthropogenic Habitat.

30 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

II. Wet Habitat: having more than 400 mm. of precipitation per
year. Humlum's Monsoonal Afghanistan, but excluding the Jalala-
bad Vale. There are two major subdivisions: A, Mountains and
Associated Terrain, and B, Anthropogenic Habitat.

BIOTOPES OF DRY HABITAT

A. Mountains and Associated Terrain

1. Alpine Habitat above 3000 m. — Alpine habitat could be sub-
divided into three biotopes: 1) high areas having permanent ice and
snow; 2) high montane meadows, and 3) rocky slopes and talus slides;
however, since the expedition made no collections above 3000 m. this
terrain will simply be referred to as alpine habitat.

Characteristic elements of this environment are enumerated by
Taber and Hoffman ( 1963) . These elements include avalanches, land
slips, wind throw, rapid erosion, and meterological extremes, such as
strong insolation and wind, plus great diurnal temperature extremes
and great extremes between sun and shade. Further, this environ-
ment often affords a close juxtaposition of strong biotic contrasts due
to changes in altitude, slope aspect, shading, and differences due to
air drainage, soil and snow accumulation.

In Afghanistan the distribution and character of the vegetation
seem to correspond to the occurrence of these extremes. Proceeding
from low to high altitudes and from wet to dry areas, the changing
vegetation becomes sparse and stunted as the physiognomy of the sur-
viving vegetation is modified to withstand these environmental ex-
tremes. Trees and shrubs are depressed. Several genera of shrubs
form dense hemispherical crowns with exterior surfaces like clipped
hedges and are collectively called tragacanth vegetation. At high
elevations where tree and shrub vegetation is absent, bunch grass,
small sedges, and procumbent forbs can be found. Ephemeral plants
are adapted to flower and produce seed quickly and then disappear
as the surface soil on well-drained slopes and plateaus is rapidly dried
by the desiccating action of strong seasonal insolation and wind.
Little vegetation is found above 4000 m. Well-drained slopes, some
with talus, and dry plateaus are barren. Areas combining adequate
subsurface soil moisture and some protection from the wind, such as
ravines or the base of a rock, form islands of vegetation in these
cold deserts.

I climbed above 3000 m. at three places in Afghanistan and made
the following observations: In the Wakhan Corridor the north-facing

31

32

FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

Fig. 3. Looking southeast from the summit of Shibar Pass. The slope and
plateau biotope of montane habitat below 3,000 m. A — dry land farming;
B — bunchgrass and Artemisia steppe.

slopes flanking the headwaters of the Oxus river had scant vegetation.
Talus slopes and cliffs contrasted with shrubby ravines and alluvial
fans, having low shrubs and bunch grasses. Vegetation was thicker
close to the bases of rocky outcrops or boulders than in open areas
farther away. In the Paghman Range west of Kabul fewer talus
slopes were in evidence and the relief was not as great as in the Wak-
han. However, the contrast between vegetation of severely drained
and less severely drained land features was similar. In minutes one
could walk from a moist high mountain gully with vegetation having
a high density, low shade, two strata, irregular distribution, and low
homogeneity to a horizontally-adjacent, dry, rubbly slope with vege-
tation having a low density, low shade, one stratum, clumped distri-
bution, and low homogeneity. These observations were made on a
northeast-facing slope of 30 to 40 degrees. A rubbly slope on the
opposite side of the valley appeared to be almost barren of vegetation.
Presumably because these mountains get some precipitation from the
monsoons, the slopes have more vegetation than was seen in the Wak-
han, but less than eastern mountains receiving more monsoonal rain.

Fig. 4. The north side of Sauzak Pass. The obvious ecological dominants
are juniper trees and tragacanth vegetation (A).

33

34

FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

2. Slopes and Plateaus below 3000 m. — This biotope has a clay
loess substrate with a covering of coarse gravel and small stones.

Fig. 5. Scree-covered slopes of the Wakhan Corridor at 2,750 m. The hori-
zontal boundary in the center of the picture denotes an irrigation ditch above
which scant vegetation is found. The valley floor has low (grazed) lawn-like grass
and sedge. Trees, some reaching 5 m., surround a stone grain mill (A).

Mountains in southern Afghanistan are almost devoid of vegetation.
Slopes of mountains in Nuristan, Badakhshan, North and Northwest
Afghanistan frequently support an open stand of trees, often junipers
and pistachio. North -facing slopes generally have more vegetation
than south-facing ones. Thus vegetation reflects the climatic ex-
tremes and varying topography of this biotope. Figures 3 and 4 illus-
trate the widely different types of vegetation that are found in this
biotope.

The vegetation in Figure 3 (A and B) has high density, irregular
distribution, low shade, one stratum, and low homogeneity; in Fig-
ure 4, low to high density (some slopes of clay being devoid of vege-
tation), irregular distribution (clumped for tragacanth vegetation),
low to high shade, two strata, and low homogeneity are noted.

Fig. 6. The east-facing slope of a low mountain (823 m.) bordering the Kunar
River about 35 km. north of Jalalabad. The cave is approximately 25 m. deep.

35

36

FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

Ml

Fig. 7. A low (1,130 m.) mountain between Kandahar and Babi Wali.
truck, top center, is dwarfed by the huge boulders on this slope.

The

The expedition collected the following plants from this biotope:
Artemisia sp. (2), Lepidium latifolium (2), Chrozophora oblongifolia
(4, 7), Mentha sp. (2), Allium sp. (2), Calotropis procera (11), Mer-
tensia (2), Trichodesma (4), Anchusa sp. (2), Arenaria sp. (2), Suaeda
sp. (2), Ceratocarpis sp. (2), Arthrophytum sp. (2), Reseda sp. (4),
Rosa sp. (4, 8), Hyoscyamus sp. (2), Zygophyllum fabago (2), and
many species of Graminae (2, 3, 4) .

3. Rock-covered Slopes and Plateaus. — This is a biotope of stones
and boulders, usually mixed with and covering clay and loess soil.
Talus slopes, cliffs, and alluvial fans are part of this biotope, the latter
being included because of their heterogeneous nature; however, allu-
vial fans could well be considered as the meeting place of montane
biotopes with each other, or with steppe and semi-desert biotopes.

The rock biotope is common in mountainous Afghanistan. The
amount of vegetation found in this biotope depends on the origin of
the rock, the surface area it covers, and the relief and aspect of the
slope. Hillel and Tadmor (1962), in a study of the water regime and
vegetation in the Central Negev highlands of Israel, observe: "The
stone mulch of rocky slopes apparently retards runoff, prevents the
formation of a continuous crust, and slows the rate of evaporation.
Subsurface stones decrease the capacity of the soil thereby causing

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN

37

an increase in the depth of moisture penetration. Rocky slopes thus
form an appreciably moister habitat than plains of loess, where the
continuously crusted surface absorbs less water and loses more in
drying."

Figure 5 illustrates the barren, scree-covered slopes of the Wak-
han Corridor. Figure 6 shows a shallow cave on the east-facing slope
of a mountain bordering the Jalalabad Vale. The dried brown vege-
tation blends with the rocks. The characteristics of the vegetation
on this slope are: low density, clumped distribution, low shade, one
stratum, and low to medium homogeneity. Figure 7, taken on a low
mountain north of Kandahar, has vegetation similar to that of Fig-
ure 6, but beyond the truck the scree-covered valley floor is barren
except for a few low, widely-scattered grasses. Figure 8, unlike the
foregoing three figures illustrating products of mountain degradation,
shows protruding bedrock. The vegetation of this area has medium
density, a clumped distribution, low shade, one stratum, and high
homogeneity. It can be seen that rocky areas on open slopes repre-
sent a rather barren biotope contrasting with similar terrain having
a supply of water (fig. 11).

The following plants were collected from this biotope: Aerva sp.
(11), CcUotropis procera (11), Mertensia sp. (2), Echium sp. (4), Tri-

Fig. 8. Protruding bedrock on undulating hills (2,286 m.) 27 km. northwest
of Ghazni.

38

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN

39

Fig. 10. The Kunar River floodplain showing a dense growth of riparian vege-
tation (species of Typha, Scirpus, and Cyperus), contrasting with zerophytic semi-
desert vegetation (A) a mere 2 m. higher. Top right is a low, rock-covered
mountain with scant vegetation.

chodesma sp. (4), Cleome quinquenervis (11), Anthochlamys sp. (12),
ScUsola sp. (13, 14), Artemisia sp. (2, 3), Lepedium latifolium (2),
Brassica sp. (3), Mentha (2), Zizophora clinopodioides (3), Allium sp.
(2), Rosa sp. (4, 8), Verbascum sinuatum (4), Peganum harmala (7),
Dianthus sp. (1), and Graminae spp. (2, 4, 11, 12).

4. Montane Watercourses. — This biotope can be thought of as
being superimposed upon other (subordinate) biotopes. Occasion-
ally, it is desirable to specify this subordinate biotope. In this event
the watercourse and subordinate biotope will be separated by a slash :
e.g., 'montane watercourse/rock biotope,' indicates a mountain
stream flowing through the rock biotope. The relatively dense vege-
tation of this biotope contrasts with adjacent biotopes having drier
substrate and sparse vegetation. Figures 9, 10, and 11 illustrate this.
The vegetation of the seepage in Figure 9 has a high density, even
distribution, medium shade, three strata, and low homoegeneity,
while the surrounding Artemisia steppes have a high density, irreg-

Fig. 9. A seepage on the east side of Shibar Pass. The thick vegetation of
this wet site contrasts with the surrounding Artemisia steppes on drier slopes.

40 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

ular distribution, low shade, one stratum, and medium homogeneity
when the entire pass is considered. The character of the vegetation
in Figures 10 and 11 differs little from that of Figure 9; the most
obvious difference being the density, which is low for the dry, rock-
covered mountains.

Plants collected from this biotope include: Berberis aristata (8),
Lycopsis sp. (2), Anchusa strigosa (4), Campanula (2), Saponaria vac-
caria (3), Dianthus sp. (1, 2), Chenopodium sp. (2, 3), Cardaria draba
(2), Erysium sp. (2), Lepidium latifolium (2), Hippophal rhamnoides
(3), Hemerocallis (1), Populus sp. (2), Rumex crispus (1), Polygonum
nepalense (1), Potentilla aff. sericea (3), Tamarix sp. (4), Peganum
harmala (2, 7), and species of Cyperaceae (1), and Graminae (2, 3
4, 11).

B. Steppes and Semi-Deserts

1. Clay and Loess, sometimes mixed with small stones. — This
biotope is prevalent in North, Northwest, West, and South Afghani-
stan, being found to a lesser extent in East Afghanistan and the
Jalalabad Vale.

Clay-loess mixed with or covered by small stones is frequently
referred to as a stony or pebble desert. These deserts can be thought
of as terrain associated with mountains, however, disregarding the
forces necessary for their formation, I consider a stony desert to be
any plateau covered with stones or pebbles having a diameter of less
than 100 mm. There is no sharp separation between stony deserts and
the broad, overlapping, alluvial fans of mountains. The stony des-
erts are merely a transitional zone between montane and steppe and
semi-desert habitat.

Huntington (1905, p. 251) citing McMahon states: "the Dasht-i-
Margo extends eastward 150 miles without change or interruption
from the top of the bluffs immediately west of the Sistan Basin (in
Iran) to the first mountain, Malik-Dokhand, in Baluchistan.1 In this
distance the plain rises 2,500 feet (762 m.) — less than 17 feet per mile
— and yet gravel has been smoothly distributed everywhere." Large
tracts of stony desert were traversed by the Street expedition in Col-
lecting Localities 13, 14, and 15.

Figure 12 illustrates vegetation on a south-facing slope of a loess
hillside 20 km. west of Kunduz. The characteristics of vegetation in
this area are: high density, low shade, one stratum, clumped distribu-

1 Malik-Dokhand mountain with a peak of 2200 m. is found in South Afghani-
stan near the Afghan-Baluchistan border.

Fig. 11. The water of a small stream draining the rock-covered mountains of
the Kabul River valley is sufficient to support tree and scrub vegetation. Adjacent
slopes and cliffs show a scattering of herbs and grass.

Fig. 12. Hill of loess west of Kunduz with typical steppe vegetation. Dr. Lewis
is placing traps between clumps of Artemisia. Individual plants of Zygophyllum sp.
can be seen in the foreground.

41

42

FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

!?•? ' '

■

Fig. 13. Clay and loess semi-desert near Kandahar. Beyond camels are low
ridges of sand. Low mountains in the background have a predominately rocky
substrate.

tion, and high homogeneity. Figure 13 illustrates a semi-desert near
Kandahar with vegetation having: low density, low shade, one stra-
tum, clumped distribution, and medium homogeneity (when the
sparse vegetation in the foreground is compared with the thicker
vegetation growing on low ridges of sand) .

Plants collected in this biotope include: Tamarix (6, 13, 15),
Reseda sp. (7), Diarthron sp. (7), Artemisia sp. (7, 11, 12, 13), Con-
volvulus sp. (6), Citrullus colocynthis (11, 12), Chrozophora oblongifolia
(5, 6, 7, 11), Heliotropium eichwaldii (5, 11, 13), and the chenopods
Suada sp. (5, 6), Artiplex sp. (0, 0), Traganum sp. (5), Haloxylon sp.
(15), and Halocharis spp. (6). Scattered between the foregoing scrub
Tamarix sp. and herbs were many species of Graminae often forming
an open bunchgrass steppe.

2. Sand Substrate. — The major locations of the sand biotope are
illustrated in Figure 2. Sand often covers different substrates. I
observed large sand dunes supporting little vegetation juxtaposed
with small dunes and mixtures of sand, clay, and/or loess which sup-
ported substantial amounts of vegetation. Figure 14 is typical of
this biotope in Afghanistan. The vegetation has: medium density,
low shade, one stratum, a clumped distribution, and high homogene-

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN

43

Fig. 14. Sand biotope found east of Shibarghan. Bunchgrasses are typical
of the North Afghanistan steppes, as are many species of thorny shrubs.

ity. Plants collected from this biotope include: Haloxylon sp. (12, 15),
Halarchon vesiculosus (12), Artemisia sp. (12), and Citrullus colocyn-
this (12). Many sod-forming bunchgrasses, species of Graminae,
were taken. These are prevalent in Figure 14.

3. Watercourses. — Ephemeral and Perennial. Watercourses are
an important biotope in the steppes and semi-deserts. By providing
water and a place for seeds to germinate, this biotope enables a rela-
tively large amount of vegetation to exist where otherwise only a few
scattered plants could grow. This author scanned over 50 aerial pho-
tographs taken in South and East Afghanistan. River banks and
wadis (= ephemeral watercourses) were clearly seen as ribbons of
vegetation winding through barren plains with little or no vegetation.
Shallow depressions had more vegetation than adjacent but higher
terrain, salt playas excepted. At least ten aerial photographs from
South and Southeast Afghanistan contained one or more salt playas
showing as greyish-white and appearing devoid of vegetation. The
most distinguishing characteristics of vegetation in this biotope are
high density and low homogeneity.

The following species were collected from this biotope: Helio-
tropium eichwaldii (13), Chenopodium spp. (12), Salsola sp. (14), Ha-

44 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

loxylon sp. (15), Halocharis spp. (15), Tamarix sp. (13, 15), Vitex
pseudo-negundo (13), and Conyza (13).

C. Anthropogenic Habitat

This habitat requires a special introduction, for many of the habi-
tats of mammals in Afghanistan are altered if not produced by effects
of intermittent or continual human interference. Through establish-
ing oases, regulating the grazing of domestic livestock, gathering-
vegetation for fuel and fodder, and cultivating unirrigated soil, man
has modified the natural environment and created a series of biotopes
upon which certain species of plants and animals depend. Con-
versely, of course, some species have been eliminated from certain
areas because of man's presence. Where there is a man-made struc-
ture (whether involved in irrigation or a building) a discrete biotope
is created, which can be separated from the aforementioned natural
biotopes. This structure biotope will be discussed after describing
how the natural environment can be modified by man.

Oases are considered to be irrigated islands of mesophytic vegeta-
tion. Rice, wheat, cotton, melons, grapes, and pomegranates are a
few of the crops commonly cultivated in oases. In the more arid
parts of Afghanistan large trees are confined to oases or river banks.
Figure 15 shows how abrupt the change from an irrigated area with
trees to a relatively waterless and barren plain can be. Within oases
there is crop and shade vegetation which is constantly irrigated and
usually also weed growth on temporarily unirrigated, fallow terraces.
Some unirrigated terraces are relatively barren between crops, due,
in part, to the rather intensive grazing characteristic of oases and
their vicinities. Pockets of dense vegetation can be found in areas
which are not grazed or cultivated, such as tree farms, e.g., Populus
nigra for lumber, or hillside patches of vegetation that receive seep-
age water from irrigation ditches delivering water to distant terraces.

The presence of oases not only modifies the density and arrange-
ment of vegetation, but also provides a suitable environment for
mesophytic plants. For example, I noted that the Ghorband River
valley contains a chain of small, river-bottom oases between Charikar
and the Shibar Pass. Kitamura (1960, p. 10) describes the following
species of trees, shrubs, and mesophytic herbs from this valley: Cra-
taegus songarica, Spiraea Brauhia, Lonicera arborea, Celtis caucasica,
Ficus palmata, Rosa begginiana, Campanula stricta, Erythraea cen-
taurium, Datisca cannabina, Adenocaryum anchusoides, and even a
fern, Adianthum capillusveneris. He collected these species from a

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN

45

Fig. 15. A peninsula of the Kandahar Oasis jutting into a xeric, stone-covered
valley with scant, ephemeral vegetation.

small area with a constant water supply, concluding from his obser-
vations: ". . . the place acts as a stepping stone of the distribution
of mesophytic plants through the corridor of the mountain chains."
The most obvious and certainly the most prevalent areas with a con-
stant water supply are the oases noted here.

Beyond oases much of the vegetation in Afghanistan is probably
the result of continuous human interference. According to Curtis
(1956): "The micro-environmental changes associated with the de-
struction of a climax formation of plants are usually in the direction
of more xeric, lighter and variable conditions, which encourages the
expansion of less conservative plants with such pioneer tendencies as
the ability to withstand greater fluctuations in temperature and avail-
able moisture, the capacity for resisting disturbance through produc-
tion of proliferating shoots or adventitious buds, and the possession
of efficient means of rapid population increase." Many of the spe-
cies collected by the expedition had one or more attributes of a plant
with pioneer tendencies. Wormwood, Artemisia spp. (collected in
eight localities and seen in six more), which are dominant and wide-
spread in Afghanistan, belong to the same genus as the sagebrush, a
common dominant of the North American semi-desert and often im-
plicated as an invader of overgrazed ranges. Eyre (1963, p. 132)

46 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

goes a step further, making the following observations: "From the
various descriptions available several general points can be made
when one compares the Eurasiatic semi-deserts with the semi-deserts
of North America. Firstly, herbaceous plants are of a much greater
frequency than in the semi-deserts of North America; grasses in par-
ticular are much more important. Secondly, the Eurasiatic semi-
desert is generally much more open, isolated bushes or tussocks of
grasses existing, often in a half -submerged condition, in a sea of sand
or loess. So great is the contrast between this sparse vegetation and
that in areas of similar precipitation in North America [parts of
Afghanistan are climatically similar to southern Arizona or South-
eastern California!1 that one cannot help suspecting that successive
millennia of exploitation by nomadic pastoralists have left a pro-
found mark on the vegetation cover."

The nomadic and semi-nomadic habit of many Afghan people
subjects large areas of the steppes and deserts to grazing of varying
intensity. Flocks of domestic sheep and goats were seen grazing on
hillsides almost uniformly etched by their inter-connecting trails
(fig. 16). Vegetation was absent or confined to strips between the
trails. Probably traditional migratory routes (drive trails) of the
nomads receive the most intensive grazing. Michel (1959, p. 340),
presented information obtained from a local official in Maimana, on
how intensive this grazing can be. During a dry winter or a year of
especially low rainfall local shepherds had to drive their flocks long-
distances to reach the Amu Darya, because the usual waterholes dried
up, and early denudation of pasturage along the drive routes resulted
in decimation of some flocks.

Figure 3(A) and Figure 17 illustrate non-irrigated agriculture
(=dry land farming). Schurmann (1962, pp. 256-279) discussing
the agricultural practices of the Moghols, some of whom inhabit the
headwater valleys of the Farah Rud in Central Afghanistan, points
out: "... non-irrigated agriculture, mainly wheat and barley, de-
pends on adequate spring rainfall ; if it is insufficient, the crop will be
small. Fields are cultivated for one or two years then abandoned."
The field in Figure 17 is fallow. In this condition it will absorb more

1 Comments in brackets are my own, based upon: a report by the United States
Army, Quartermaster Research and Development Center Environmental Protec-
tion Division, Analogs of Yuma Climate in South Central Asia (Natick, Massa-
chusetts; June 1955).

Fig. 16. A loess hillside south of Kunduz. Horizontal, interconnecting live-
stock trails etch the entire hillside.

47

48

FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

Fig. 17. A fallow field 3 km. east of Spin Baldak. Sand dunes can be seen
beyond the fallow field.

water than adjacent untilled land. However, it is subject to wind
erosion.

Lastly, the natural vegetation is harvested for fuel and fodder.
Figure 18 shows a string of donkeys laden with fuel, Artemisia spp.
Camels, donkeys and even Afghanistan people were frequently seen
carrying huge loads of shrubby fuel. Forbs, e.g., Prangos pabularia,
are gathered for fodder.

It may seem paradoxical, but in arid Afghanistan, where almost
every scrap of vegetation is valued as lumber, shade, food or fuel,
man's impact on the standing crop of vegetation is more severe than
in humid regions having more moisture available for plant growth
and regeneration.

1 . Structures. — This biotope can be subdivided into three classes :
One is composed of buildings and walls; a second of ditches, terraces,
and underground aqueducts; and a third of roads and bridges. These
structures may either be used or unused. Used structures may re-
ceive perennial or seasonal use, while unused structures, such as the

Fig. 18. Fuel, mainly Artemisia spp., gathered from the steppes near Shibar Pass.

49

Fig. 19. The Maimana Oasis and vicinity. A — irrigated, walled-in tree plan-
tations and orchards with vegetation having a high density, irregular distribution,
high shade, three strata, and low homogeneity; B — old, crumbling buildings pro-
tect shrubby vegetation from grazing; C — a livestock trail and an unprotected,
unirrigated field having little vegetation.

Fig. 20. Step-like terraces above the east bank of the Kunar River. The sup-
porting wall of each terrace is composed of many rocks. Wheat is the main crop.

50

'

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 51

buildings illustrated in Figure 19, are usually in various stages of
decay.

Buildings and walls are mainly of dried clay and loess, such as the
ones shown in Figure 19. Stone is seldom used in the construction
of houses; however, in mountainous Afghanistan many fences and
the supporting sides of terraces (see fig. 20) consist of stones and
rocks few of which are larger than could be carried by a single man.
Structures of wood are in the minority, being found locally in Mon-
soonal Afghanistan.

As one would expect, irrigation works have the greatest effect on
the distribution and density of vegetation. Figures 5, 15, and 19
illustrate this.

The following plants were collected from within oases or along
irrigation ditches: Lycopsis sp. (2), Cynoglossum off. lanceolatum (2),
Campanula sp. (2), Dianthus sp. (1, 2), Gypsophila sp. (3), Cheno-
podium sp. (2, 3), Cichorium sp. (1), Artemisia spp. (3), Cuscuta sp.
(2), Convolvulus arvensis (3, 5), Sisymbrium (1), Cavdaria draba (2),
Erysium sp. (2), Lepidum latifolium (2), Brassica sp. (3), Hippophae
rhamnoides (3), Euphorbis sp. (3), Geranium (3), Prunella vulgaris
(2), Mentha sp. (5), Hemerocallis sp. (1), Malva neglecta (1), Epilo-
bium hirsutum (5), Polygonum nepalense (1), Polygonum sp. (5),
Rumex sp. (3), Potentilla aff. sericea (3), Tamarix sp. (13), Verbena
officinalis (5), Peganum harmala (3). Species of Cyperaceae (1, 12)
and Graminae (2, 3, 5, 11, 12, 13, 15) were also collected.

BIOTOPES OF WET HABITAT

Steep mountains predominate in Monsoonal Afghanistan. I saw
no steppes or semi-deserts and very little level terrain. Only small
areas were free of stones, rocks or scree. All aspects of the slopes
had some trees. The characteristics of vegetation found along ephem-
eral watercourses did not appear to be appreciably different from
vegetation found away from these watercourses, however, along per-
ennial streams there were more mesophytic species and the under-
growth was thicker. The foregoing factors considered, and with the
exceptions of alpine habitat, the biotopes of Dry Afghanistan do not
apply to monsoonal habitat.

Alpine habitat per se will not be discussed, for no collections were
made above 3000 m.

A. Mountains and Associated Terrain

1. Conifers.— 1800-3000 m. (and higher to 3500 m.). In the
vicinity of Kamdesh this biotope was found above 2700 m. I made
three excursions into this biotope. There was a clay substrate cov-
ered with coarse gravel, small stones or rocks and, in local areas,
organic detritus. The diameter at breast height (d.b.h.) of the coni-
fers illustrated in Figure 21 was not over half a meter, while cedars
observed on a different slope were much larger, many exeeding one
meter d.b.h. There was a scattering of shrubs in the understory.
In open areas a greater density of shrubs was found than in the
shaded understory of the coniferous forest. The undergrowth of a
coniferous forest above Kamdesh showed evidence of being grazed,
and the reducing effect of this on the herbaceous understory was more
noticeable as one approached the village.

The vegetation in Figure 21 had a medium-to-high density, even
distribution, high shade, three strata, and low-to-medium homogene-
ity. Plants were not collected in this biotope.

2. Evergreen Oaks. — This biotope is characterized by slopes with
a substrate of clay, rocks, rock slides, and cliffs supporting a wood-
land of predominantly evergreen oak, Quercus baloot, with an average
height ranging from 4-5 m. It was the prevailing biotope in the

52

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN

53

jl^k "^^w

-ji j

HKc.

■ »jr^^_ *' VJt' ^^5E^^j

i^^^nSSt^ HmL> *

i^-- ****** "* "\ < -

^ -

Fig. 21. Conifers above the village of Kamdesh.

areas of Monsoonal Afghanistan that were visited by the expedition.
Oaks covered the slopes from the Bashgul River (1300 m.) to the
coniferous zone (2000 m.). I saw few trees higher than 7 m., nor did
any have a d.b.h. greater than a third of a meter. The understory
varied, more shrubs and herbs being found on the north-facing slopes.
Scree-covered slopes supported a scattering of scrubby oaks and little
else. At 1500 m. on a northeast-facing slope of 40 degrees a small,
abandoned corral having a dense covering of grass with scattered
herbs was surrounded by a thick oak forest with a shrubby understory.

Figure 22(A) illustrates an evergreen oak forest having vegetation
with: medium density, medium shade, three strata, even and irregu-
lar distribution, and medium-to-high homogeneity. Figure 22(B)
illustrates vegetation on a typical, scree-covered slope having a low-

54

FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

to-medium density, low shade, three strata, irregular distribution,
and low-to-medium homogeneity.

Fig. 22. The Bashgul River valley. Slope A illustrates an evergreen oak
forest; B shows a steep mountain covered with scree and a more open stand of oaks.

The expedition collected the following plants in this biotope, all
from locality number 10 (Kamdesh) : Polygonum sp., Bidens sp.,
Cichorium sp., Quercus baloot, Solarium nigrum, Physalis sp., Lespe-
deza sp., and species of Graminae.

3. Perennial Watercourses. — The densest naturally-occurring
vegetation found in Afghanistan occurs in this biotope. The under-
growth is often thick. Rocks and trees may be partially covered
with moss. Ferns and vines are common. Organic mulch is fre-
quently 100 mm. deep. Wet meadows have a dense covering of
herbaceous vegetation.

The author observed this biotope to support vegetation having a
high density, high shade, three strata, irregular distribution, and low
homogeneity.

The following plants were collected in this biotope: Impatiens
edgeworthii, Cynoglossum off. lanceolatum, Chenopodium spp., Epi-
lobium hirsutum, Clematis graveolens, Ranunculus constantinopoli-
tanus, Physalis alkakingi, Cony a sp., Artemisia sp., Euphorbia, Malva

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN

55

neglecta, Cannabis sativa, Mentha sp., Solarium nigrum, and species
of Graminae.

B. Anthropogenic Habitat

1. Structures (described on p. 49). — There are no oases in Mon-
soonal Afghanistan. There is no sudden transition from water and
vegetation to no water and no vegetation. Irrigation is practiced,
but structures for this purpose are insignificant when compared with
their counterparts in Dry Afghanistan. Crops are sown wherever it
is convenient to cultivate. Figure 23 illustrates this. Houses are
built only where there is a perennial supply of water. They are con-
structed of wood, clay, and stone.

Houses are the most significant part of this biotope, unlike the
structure biotope of arid Afghanistan where structures related to irri-
gation had this distinction. No plants were collected from anthropo-
genic habitat, but with the exception of cultivated crops the compo-
sition of the vegetation in the vicinity of structures probably differs
little from that found in more natural areas. I noticed persimmon,
walnut, and pomegranate trees along the Bashgul River.

Fig. 23. Stream bottom with anthropogenic habitat. Corn was grown on a
series of step-like terraces. The scree-covered slope almost obscured in the back-
ground is similar to the one shown in Figure 22.

56

COLLECTING LOCALITIES AND ITINERARY

The present section contains descriptions of the 15 major collect-
ing localities that are illustrated in Figure 24.

The exact location and spelling of Afghan place names is often
difficult because of differing ways of transliterating names from
Arabic to English letters, as well as the application of various names
to one locality on different maps and in the literature. Therefore,
to assure the readers what places our specimens came from, a gazet-
teer is appended to this section, sometimes with several spellings of
place names and usually with latitude and longitude in degrees and
minutes. It is limited to place names that are cited in the text of
this paper. Where possible, the spelling employed by the Times
Atlas of the World, Mid-Century Edition, John Bartholomew (1959),
is used.

Each of the following 15 descriptions is prefixed by: the name of
the major collecting locality and its numeral illustrated in Figure 24;
the co-ordinates and altitudes of overnight camps (i.e., collecting
localities are named after the largest city or village contained there-
in, co-ordinates of the locality, except in the gazetteer, refer to the
site of our camp and only to these cities if our campsites were in
them) ; the dates spent in each locality; and a list of the biotopes from
which we collected mammals.

During the course of the expedition our party was often divided,
one group working in the vicinity of our base camp while a second
party was collecting in a different major locality. In these instances
the same dates will, of course, be shown prefixing different localities,
but with such dates followed by the initials of the collectors involved :
Atallah (A), Hassinger (H), Lewis (L), Neuhauser (N), and Street (S).

The following descriptions contain general ecological information
about each locality with a listing of specific sites where traps were
placed. The mean daily temperatures are derived from an average
of 12 measurements, one every two hours commencing at midnight.

Fig. 24. Map of routes and collecting localities of the Street Expedition to
Afghanistan. Localities are listed in order of visitation.

57

58 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

The numbers and species of terrestrial mammals trapped, other-
wise captured, or purchased in each locality will be listed in Table 1
following this section. Purchase of specimens from furriers is indi-
cated with a P. The number of species of bats taken at each collect-
ing locality will be given ; however, the specific names will not be listed.

Reference will be made to the collections of ectoparasites taken
from 13 of the 15 major localities; however, the smaller samples of
plants, herpetological materials, and mollusks, collected in most of
the localities will not be mentioned.

1. Paghman and Kabul

34°36/N 68°56'E; 2440 m.; July 12-23; Aug. 1, 2, 5-9; Sept. 27-
31; Oct. 1-6, 9-11, 26-28; Nov. 22-26. Prevalent biotopes:
Slope and plateau, Structure, Watercourse, and Rock, in dry,
montane habitat.

The capital city, Kabul, was the best place for reprovisioning and
repairs, and we consequently planned our itinerary to include a num-
ber of returns to this city, which is the reason for the numerous dates
recorded for this locality. Most of our collecting near Kabul was
accomplished between July 12 and 23, while we were encamped in
the Paghman oasis. On other returns to this vicinity we stayed
in Kabul and collected less. All collections in locality 1 were made
between 1900 and 2900 meters.

Collecting excursions beyond the vicinity of the main camp in-
cluded:

1) Qala Safed Ouanai cave, southwest of Kabul .... July 21. N.

2) Lalander cave, near Kabul, also known as Dahnar-Ghar,

Oct. 4. N., A.

Days were hot and dry, nights were cool, there was no rain. The
mean temperature for nine days (July 13-18, 20-22) was 24.2°C with
a mean max. and min. of 32.0°C and 18.3°C, respectively. Figure 25
is an example of the diurnal temperature fluctuation, which we expe-
rienced during most of our collecting days in Afghanistan. Highs
and lows were recorded for different hours, but our entire set (50 days)
of temperature records showed similar variation in each of the ten
localities for which temperatures were recorded.

The lush vegetation and boulder-strewn terraces of the Paghman
oasis cover a gently sloping, narrow valley tract that spreads toward
Kabul. There were many orchards and other tree plantations within
the confines of the narrow Paghman valley. The alluvial fans which

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN

59

Fig. 25. Temperature variation on July 18 at Paghman, Afghanistan.

extend south and east from the Paghman escarpment contain fields
and terraces of wheat, barley, and corn. Vineyards predominated
along the Kabul-to-Charikar road.

In the Paghman, and to a somewhat lesser extent the Kabul,
oases, we set our traps on earthen embankments of irrigated and
fallow terraces; in old fields on unused, decimated terraces; along
rock walls supporting hillside irrigation ditches or fencing fields and
terraces; in the undergrowth and litter of tree farms and orchards;
on rock-covered hillsides between a small stream (5-10 m. wide) and
higher irrigation canals; in a vineyard; and about old buildings.
Beyond the confines of the oases, dry and moist rocky outcrops, the
talus of an east-southeast-facing mountain slope, and the base of an
abandoned rock bridge were similarly sampled. Night hunting was
mainly confined to the two roads (one completely paved, the other
about half paved) traversing the 20 km. between Kabul and Pagh-
man. Terrain adjacent to the paved road between Kabul and Ghazni
was spotlighted. However, most of the night hunting in this sector
was done near Kabul.

Thirty-one terrestrial mammals were shot or netted while hunt-
ing, 161 were trapped, and 35 were purchased from the local populace.
We also bought five specimens from the fur bazaar in Kabul. The

60 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

furrier gives the following localities as the collecting sites of these
purchases: Vulpes corsac (North Afghanistan), Martesflavigula (Cen-
tral Afghanistan), Lutra lutra (Central Afghanistan), and Felis uncia
(Wakhan) . A patch of Marmota caudata fur found in the vicinity of
the Anjuman Pass was given to us in Kabul.

Most of the above mammals were examined for ectoparasites.
Burrow systems of Microtus afghanus and Meriones libycus were ex-
cavated and inspected for ectoparasites. Fleas were aspirated from
the walls of these burrows and from loose soil and nest material
scraped from the tunnels.

2. Shibar Pass

34°53'N 68°06'E; 2440 m.; July 23-Aug. 1; Oct. 2-3, N., H.

Prevalent biotopes: Slope and plateau, Structure, Watercourse,

and Rock, in dry, montane habitat.

Our main camp was located at a small village called Shombul,
about 12 km. west of Shibar Pass. All of our collections in this
locality were taken from between 2600 and 3300 m. elevation.

Excursions beyond the vicinity of the main camp included trips to :

1) Bamiyan, west of Shombul July 27, 28. H., L.

and July 29, A., N., S.

2) Madan-Sorb cave, a lead mine near Farindjal,

Oct. 2, 3. H., N.

There was no rain. Days were warm and nights were cold. The
mean temperature for July 29 to 31 was 22.9°C with a mean max. of
38.7°C and a mean min. of 11.0°C.

This locality was characterized by steep, boulder-strewn valley
sides, valley floors with terraces of wheat, and the rolling slopes
spreading from the apex of Shibar Pass west toward the Bamiyan
valley. The bunch grass steppe of the pass was limited to the perim-
eters of fallow fields and to the slopes, which were not planted with
barley or wheat (see fig. 3) .

Near the summit (2745 m.) of Shibar Pass we set our traps around
the edges of fallow fields and in the bunch-grass steppe. We set our
traps on the steeper east-facing slope of the pass in a small seepage
and on the drier hillside surrounding this wet gulley (see fig. 9) . Near
our camp at Shombul traps were set in clumps of willows or in rocky
crevices along a stream one to three meters wide, in a hillside tree
(Populus sp.) plantation, around the foundations of grist mills and old
earthen ruins, and in the stone piles and fences surrounding a culti-

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 61

vated wheatfield. Beyond these areas of human habitation, boulder-
strewn hillsides, rocky outcrops, and some stream side talus between
steep, sloping valley sides were trapped for mammals. Near Bamiyan
we set out traps around the base of a dry, conglomerate cliff and in
an adjacent erosion gulley. Vegetation was scant. Most of our night
hunting was done in the valley between Shombul and the summit of
Shibar Pass.

There were 120 mammals captured in traps, 13 shot, and a single
specimen was purchased. While night hunting we saw a stone mar-
tin, Martes foina, but were unable to collect it.

We examined most of the mammal specimens and the burrow
systems of Microtus afghanus and Cricetulus migratorius for ecto-
parasites.

3. Ishkamish and Zebak

36° 42' N 71° 46' E; 2623 m.; Aug. 12-16. 36° 32' N 71° 21' E;

2653 m.; Aug. 17, 18. Prevalent biotopes: Slope and plateau,

Structure, Watercourse, and Rock, in dry, montane habitat.

Our main camp was located about 19 road km. east of Ishkamish.
Our last two nights in this locality were spent at a second campsite
3-5 km. NW of Zebak. Collecting in this locality was done between
2600 and 2900 m.

Days were cool and nights cold. There were trace amounts of
rain. Near the summits of surrounding mountains fresh snow could
be seen. No temperature records were obtained. The prevailing
character of the terrain was barrenness. Steep mountainsides were
covered with talus (see fig. 5), while the alluvial debris of the narrow
valley floors contained rocks and boulders of varying sizes. Scant,
weedy vegetation predominated except where small terraced patches
of legumes, wheat, and barley were found.

Near Zebak the valley is wider. The vegetation is confined to
irrigated hillside terraces or the valley floor. Poplars are cultivated,
copses of willows are found along a stream big enough to contain
German brown trout. Sedge and grass meadows are closely grazed.

We set our traps around boulders which were often larger than
our trucks, and in the talus at the base of the steep sides of the
Wakhan corridor. Rock walls, stone grist mills, a wet, brushy moun-
tain ravine, the base of a stone bridge, and a small grove with poplars
and willows were examined for mammal signs and trapped.

62 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

Leaving the Wakhan and the headwaters of the Amu Darya, we
traveled to Zebak along the headwaters of the Kokcha river. This
village is about 32 km. southwest of Ishkamish, which is on the Amu
Darya drainage. Here we set our traps on xeric, rocky valley sides,
in stony or bushy fence rows, along the banks of a small stream
bisecting an alfalfa field, about a grist mill, and in copses of willows
and poplars.

This locality yielded 76 mammals. We shot Lepus capensis and
Vulpes vulpes while night hunting. We purchased specimens of
Martes foina, Capra ibex, and Ovis ammon.

The mammals were examined for ectoparasites.

4. Faizabad

37°08'N 70°25'E; 1006 m.; Aug. 18 to 20. Prevalent biotopes:
Slope and plateau, Watercourse, Structure, and Rock in dry, mon-
tane habitat.

Our camp was located about 25 km. by road west of Faizabad
along the Kokcha river. A small collection of mammals was made
between 1000 and 1100 m.

The weather was milder than in the Wakhan. There were fewer
clouds. Days were warm and nights cool.

The smoother and rounder foothills of this region are less spec-
tacular than their Wakhan counterparts supporting fewer cliffs, less
talus, and more grass and shrub vegetation. Numerous fallow fields
indicated the prevalence of dry land farming. There were many
erosion gullies and ravines. The valley floor was irrigated and culti-
vated wherever suitable. On many small riverside plains the black
tents of nomadic Afghans were seen, their livestock grazing on adja-
cent hillsides or on small riverine pastures. Intermittently along the
sandy river bottom clumps of marsh vegetation grew.

Near the river, which was about 50 m. wide at our camp, we
placed our traps in the lush (ungrazed) understory of a small stand
of trees, mainly poplar, willow, and mulberry. Away from the river
we set our traps in erosion gullies and around the weedy edges of
hillside, fallow fields.

Excluding a number of surplus house mice that were discarded,
we trapped only seven specimens. Night hunting along the valley
floor yielded one Hystrix indica and two Vulpes vulpes.

These specimens were examined for ectoparasites.

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 63

5. Kunduz

36°42'N 68°52'E; 549 m.; Aug. 20 to 30. Prevalent biotopes:
Clay and loess, Watercourse, and Structure in dry, steppe habitat.

The entire party spent the night of August 20 at Taliq-an (36°46'N
69°29 'E, 884 m.) before proceeding to Kunduz. A number of Nesokia
indica trapped along an irrigation ditch and three species of bats pur-
chased from a local boy constituted the collecting done around Taliq-
an. Our major camp was established 8 km. south of Kunduz along
a small road leading to the Kunduz airport. All collections in this
locality were made between 500 and 800 m.

During our stay, days were hot and nights cool. It rained hard
(1-2 cm.) for about 45 minutes during the morning of August 23rd.
After this storm passed there was no more rain. The mean tempera-
ture record for the 23rd was 24.3°C with a max. of 29°C and a min.
of 18°C. The temperature records for the 24th through the 29th are
for the inside of a shaded tent. Testing with an ordinary thermom-
eter, hand held, showed warmer in-tent temperatures than outside
ones at any time of day, but inside approximated outside tempera-
tures at night. The mean tent temperature for six days was 28.0°C
with a mean max. of 40.5°C and mean min. of 18.1°C.

The wide, shallow Kunduz valley is heavily cultivated, but north
and west of Kunduz, about 10 km., a slightly higher plateau of loess
and sand has steppe vegetation and supports no crops (see fig. 12).
Each day caravans of camels loaded with shrubs to be used for fuel
were seen on these northern plains. South and west of Kunduz the
low, rounded, loess foothills of the Hindu Kush showed signs of being
intensively grazed (see fig. 16). The vegetation of wide valleys and
alluvial fans between these hills is preponderantly xerophytic. There
are no trees.

There was large scale cultivation of cotton in the oases; wheat
and sugar beets are abundantly grown and there were some tree
farms. One tree farm near our camp contained Populus, Salix, and
Alanthus. There were also some orchards of apples, apricots, and
mulberries.

Mammals were trapped along irrigation ditches, in the tall grass
and alfalfa of an apple orchard, in the crevices of a stone fence sur-
rounding an intensely irrigated, experimental farm, throughout a
park having trees, shrubs, and grass but little organic mulch, and
in a garden of low grass and mixed flowers within Kunduz. The non-
irrigated terrain that was trapped consisted mainly of the flat or

64 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

rolling steppe and semi-desert north of Kunduz. Traps were also set
in the loess hills west of Kunduz and in and around a cemetery near
the airport. We did most of our night hunting on the plains north
of Kunduz.

Ninety-three mammals were trapped. Hunting produced 49 ter-
restrial mammals, including our first Spermophilopsis leptodactylus
and Rhombomys opimus, which were shot in the afternoon and at
dusk, respectively. Night hunting yielded: Hemiechinus auritus,
Allactaga elater, and Vulpes vulpes. Three animals were purchased.
Ectoparasites were collected from most of the specimens. Spermo-
philopsis and Nesokia burrows were also examined for fleas.

6. Mazar-I-Sharif

36°43'N 67°05'E; 457 m.; Aug. 31 to Sept. 7. Prevalent bio-
topes: Clay and loess, Slope and plateau, Rock, Structure, and
Watercourse, in dry, montane, and steppe habitat.

Our camp was situated on an Afghan government experimental
farm along the western edge of Mazar-i-Sharif . All of our collections
in this locality were taken from between 450 and 950 m. elevation.

There was no rain. The mean temperature for four days, Sept. 2
to 5, was 25.2°C with a mean max. of 32.5°C, a mean min. of 20.0°C.

North of Mazar-i-Sharif lies the central Asian steppes, and south,
the foothills of the Hindukush. The rivers emerging from the Hindu
Kush are consumed in irrigation, but not before they cut large erosion
channels through the loess plains abutting the foothills. The hills
are of loess and rock with a scattering of low trees on their north-
facing slopes. The plains around Mazar-i-Sharif are sown with wheat
and barley. Cotton is grown, and this is a major area of karakul
sheep grazing in Afghanistan (Michel, 1959, p. 77).

We placed our traps along dry irrigation ditches bordering small
fields, some fallow, other supporting alfalfa or grain. We also set
traps among the trees, grass, and weeds bordering major water ditches,
in dry ditches and gullies, along dirt roads and around the bases of
earthen buildings and fences. In the foothills, dry rock slides, rocks
bordering an irrigation ditch, gullies, a threshing platform, and a
slope of mixed rock and loess were set with traps. Hunting was
largely confined to steppe areas and marginal cropping situations,
however; about three hours of one night were spent traversing a large
alluvial fan with coarse gravel, relatively scant vegetation and a
slight, east-facing slope.

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 65

Forty-three mammals were trapped, 23 shot or netted, and Cricet-
ulus migratorius and Felis manul (from North Afghanistan) were
purchased. We saw a jackal, Canis aureus, but were unable to col-
lect it.

Ectoparasites were collected and the burrow system of a Nesokia
indica was excavated and inspected for fleas.

7. Maimana

35°54'N 64°43'E; 884 m.; Sept. 7 to 15. Prevalent biotopes:
Clay and loess, Slope and plateau, Rock, Watercourse, and Struc-
ture in dry, montane, and steppe habitat.

Our camp was in an experimental garden on the outskirts of
Maimana. Collecting in this locality was confined to elevations be-
tween 800 and 1300 m.

Collecting excursions beyond the vicinity of our main camp in-
cluded:

1) Belchiragh, E.S.E. of Maimana Sept. 12. A, H, L, N

2) Zarmast Cave, S.E. of Maimana Sept. 13. N

Maimana is within the foothills of the Paropamisus mountain
range. These hills are mostly of loess and are cultivated, but seldom
irrigated. Less than 20 km. east of the city the hills are less rounded
and rock outcrops and some cliffs can be seen. The valleys in this
region contain alluvial plains of redeposited loess, which in some of
the narrower valleys east of Maimana contain an admixture of rock.
The vegetation is typical of the open steppe and includes no trees
except along the rivers and in oases. Grain crops predominate, and
most of the hills showed signs of being intensely grazed.

Within the oasis of Maimana we placed our traps in moist alfalfa
plots, on dry vegetationless pastures, along irrigation ditches, around
the bases of earthen buildings (see fig. 19), and within the walled con-
fines of a relatively lush tree farm. Beyond the city we set traps
around the bases of old mud ruins, along mud and rock fences, around
threshing platforms, in a dry gully, and in the talus of a northeast-
facing slope of 40 degrees.

Trapping yielded 37 specimens, almost as many were purchased,
while only five were shot. Night hunting was restricted, because of
a gas shortage, to terrain along the road between Maimana and Bel-
chiragh, and along the roads north and south of Maimana.

Specimens were examined for ectoparasites.

66 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

8. Herat

34°18'N 62°10'E; 915 m.; Sept. 16 to 26. Prevalent biotopes:
Clay and loess, Slope and plateau, Rock, Watercourse, Structure
and Sand in dry, montane, and steppe and semi-desert habitat.
We camped immediately south of Herat on the northern bank of

the Hari Rud. Collections from this locality are from between 300

and 2450 m. elevation.

Collecting excursions beyond the vicinity of the main camp in-
cluded:

1) Sauzak Pass, about 109 km. E.N.E. of Herat . . Sept. 16 and

Sept. 21, 22. A, H.

2) Afghan Turkmeniyan border zone, south of Kushka

Sept. 23. H, L.

The mean temperature at the Herat campsite for six days was
19.4°C with a mean max. of 31.1°C and mean min. of 9.3°C. There
was no rain.

The large expanse of gardens and other greenery of Herat con-
trasts with the surroundings which consist mainly of low, rounded,
barren-looking hills covered with rock detritus. Adjacent plains and
basins generally have a covering of small pebbles but also open
patches of unaltered loess. The predominating flora is typical as
described above of semi-desert and steppe. Open stands of scrub
tamarisk, clumps of poplars and willows, grassy meadows, and small
reed beds occurred intermittently along the Hari Rud.

The Paropamisus mountain range is breached by the Sauzak Pass.
North of the crests of this range, the road, winding down a gradual
incline, is bounded on either side by tragacanth vegetation and scat-
tered junipers sometimes in clumps (see fig. 4), while treeless slopes
with open steppe vegetation and a scattering of cultivated grain
fields stretch from the apex of the pass down over its southern slope
to the floor of a narrow valley opening toward Herat.

North of the low Paropamisus range, near the Turkmeniyan bor-
der, the low, rounded, loess hills and plains were covered with patches
of sand and steppe vegetation.

In the Herat oasis and along the Hari Rud we set our traps in the
detritus and thick undergrowth of riverine vegetation and in the
grass and brush of a relatively undisturbed tree farm. In addition,
traps were placed on fallow barren terraces and between scattered,
thorny shrubs lining the sides of an unused irrigation ditch. North
of Herat a dry, boulder-covered, west-facing slope of 30° having

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 67

scattered clumps of grass with an admixture of camelthorns, an east-
facing hill of loess, and a small loess plain etched with shallow, dry
erosion gulleys were set with traps. We sampled both sides of Sauzak
Pass setting our traps around the bases of traganthoid shrublets, in
rock slides, under large boulders sometimes shaded by low, spreading
junipers, in a clump of Berberis sp., and along the base of a stone wall
supporting the one lane, dirt road above a small seepage area.

The hills and plains adjacent to roads north, south, east, and west
of Herat were explored at night. Where feasible we left the highway
and swept the surrounding plains with our spotlights. The Hari Rud
river bottom, Herat oasis, and the entire 109 km. between Herat and
the Sauzak Pass were also searched nocturnally for wild mammals.

Trapping produced 80 specimens, and our total catch for hunting
(mostly at night) consisted of 45 animals. We purchased the follow-
ing species from a bazaar furrier: Cants lupus (?), Lutra lutra (South
Afghanistan), Felis lynx (Wakhan), Felts manul (?), and Hyaena
hyaena (North Afghanistan). Natural areas, in parentheses, were
given by the furrier as the original collecting localities.

While night hunting we saw three Lepus sp., two packs of more
than four jackals (Canis aureus) each, and a Hyaena hyaena. We
were able to collect a jackal but unable to obtain the hyaena or
the hares.

Most of the material was examined for ectoparasites.

9. Ghazni and Gardez

33°36'N 68°33'E; 2104 m.; Oct. 6 to 9. Prevalent biotopes:
Slope and plateau, Watercourse, Rock, and Structure in dry, mon-
tane habitat.

Our camp was located on the grounds of the new Ghazni prison
about 9 km. southeast of Ghazni. Elevations between 2100 and
2450 m. were sampled.

Excursions beyond the vicinity of our main camp included a one-
day trip to Gardez, Oct. 8, A, H, N.

The mean temperature derived from 12 records, one every two
hours, for Oct. 8 was 14.6°C with a maximum of 21.0°C and a mini-
mum of 10.0°C. Days were bright and cloudless.

Ghazni is situated near the convergence of two drainage systems,
one draining north toward Kabul, the other south toward Kandahar.
The wide NE-SW valley in which Ghazni is located appears barren.
The surrounding hills and the mountainsides covered with boulders

68 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

and talus, and dissected by gullies, seem so barren as to be devoid
of vegetation for areas as large as 50 sq. m. I noted larger barren
areas on two separate hills. The semi-deserts and steppes south and
east of Ghazni contain communities of thorny vegetation.

Gardez is situated approximately 80 km. east of Ghazni in a sim-
ilar, wide valley. From Gardez a scattering of trees can be seen near
the summits of mountains to the east. The foothills of these moun-
tains are rounded, containing large amounts of talus fanning down
from numerous rock outcrops. The Ghazni and Gardez oases are
not large. The surrounding cultivated land, parts of which are irri-
gated and parts of which are dry farmed, are sown with grain, alfalfa,
and melons. There is a stream running through Ghazni. Clumps of
poplars and willows occur on its floodplain and farther south, border-
ing this same stream, an occasional clump of tamarisk stands out
among the lower thorny shrubs.

We placed our traps around alfalfa fields, along irrigation ditches,
among the supporting stones of a stream-side road, along the base of
a mud fence, in the relatively dense thorny vegetation surrounding
the prison and in the earthen banks of fallow terraces. In drier situ-
ations traps were placed among the earthen ruins of an abandoned
building, in gullies, on talus slopes, and among the large boulders of
the low hills northwest of Ghazni. Traps were also provided to
bazaar owners in Ghazni to catch synanthropic mammals for us.

We trapped 58 animals, but our night hunting yielded but one
specimen, an Allactaga elater. Within the village of Ghazni I found
a number of Rattus rattoides which had been bludgeoned by the resi-
dents. We observed Allactaga sp. and Vulpes vulpes.

Mammals were inspected for ectoparasites, and samples of bur-
row systems housing Meriones libycus were excavated and searched
for fleas.

10. Kamdesh

35°25'N 71°23'E; 1342 m.; Oct. 13 to 18. Prevalent biotopes:
Conifer, Evergreen oak, Watercourse, and Structure in wet,
montane habitat.
Kamdesh is situated on a mountainside about 500 m. above the

Bash Gal River, a tributary of the Kunar. Our camp was about

8 km. east of Kamdesh near the village of Kamu. Collecting was

confined to elevations between 1300 and 2150 m.

The mean temperature for 48 records, one every two hours for

Oct. 13, 14, 15, and 16, was 18.0°C with a mean max. of 31.8°C and

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 69

a mean min. of 10.5°C. There were scattered showers on the 15th
and 17th.

This locality is in that part of Afghanistan which receives pre-
cipitation sufficient to sustain forest from the left flank of the Indian
monsoons. The terrain is mountainous with steep valleys and sheer
cliffs (see fig. 22) . The climate and vegetation is unique for Afghani-
stan ; nowhere else, except on other eastern mountains under the in-
fluence of the monsoons, can Afghan mountainside vegetation of
comparable density be found.

Near camp we set our traps along stone walls supporting the road
following the course of the Bash Gal River, and in the crevices of
rocks supporting terraces. Burrows in and around corn fields, and
a north-facing slope with rocks and oak, were set with traps. Higher,
around 2000 m., we placed traps among rocks along a mountain
stream, in the talus below cliffs, in shrub and weed-covered erosion
gullies, in a boulder slide, and in the understory of a clump of cedars.
Steel traps were placed along the Bash Gal River and in a riverside
stand of hawthorne trees. Rat traps were lent to the villagers of
Kamdesh.

The most abundant species here, Mus musculus, was so dense that
during one night we caught more than 100 in fewer traps. We caught
42 specimens besides Mus. Our local hunters brought us a Capra
falconeri, but night hunting along the river bottom was unsuccessful
because the nature of the terrain restricted our vision and vehicular
maneuverability.

Most of the specimens, including numerous mice, which were
subsequently discarded, were examined for ectoparasites.

11. Jalalabad

34°26'N 70°25'E; 732 m.; Aug. 2 to 5. A, H, L, N; Oct. 11, 12
and 19 to 26. Prevalent biotopes: Slope and plateau, Clay and loess,
Rock, Watercourse, and Structure in dry, montane, and semi-desert
habitat.

Our camp was located in a park near the center of Jalalabad.
Collecting was confined to terrain between 600 and 900 m. above
sea level.

Collecting excursions beyond the vicinity of our main camp in-
cluded :

1) Nurgul, north of Jalalabad . . Aug. 3. A, H, L, N; Oct. 19,

22. A, H, N.

70 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

2) Kalat-us-Siraj, northwest of Jalalabad. . .Aug. 4. A, H, L,

N; Oct. 20. N. S.

3) Cave #61, near Nurgul Aug. 3. A, H, L, N; Oct. 19. A.

4) Qachqar Cave, near Nurgul . . Oct. 19. A, H, N ; Oct. 22. A, N.

5) Basawal, west of Kyber Pass Oct. 21, 24. A, H, L, N.

The mean temperature for 24 readings taken at two-hour inter-
vals starting midnight Oct. 23 was 23.5°C with a max. of 29.0°C re-
corded at 3:00 P.M. on Oct. 24 and a min. of 18.0°C at 5:00 A.M.
on Oct. 23. There was no rain.

Jalalabad is situated near the conjunction of the Kabul and Kunar
rivers and in a wide valley encircled by high mountain ranges, 2700
to 4700 m. in elevation. The mountains extract rainfall from the
high clouds of the monsoons and little falls on the Jalalabad and lower
Kunar valleys, but mountain streams provide abundant water for
irrigation. Thus, one observes a thriving agriculture along the rivers
with citrus crops and from two to three cereal crops a year, while
beyond this moist, irrigated soil the natural valley vegetation is typ-
ical of a semi-desert.

The mountain slopes are strewn with boulders between which a
few shrubs and grasses grow at lower elevations. Higher, above
1500 m., there is a scattering of oaks and conifers. Contiguous allu-
vial fans spreading from the steep valleys and gulleys of these moun-
tains are covered with rocks and coarse gravel, while farther toward
the center of the Jalalabad Vale the semi-deserts have a fine soil.

Trapline sites included : irrigated gardens, a mountainside seepage
on a north-facing slope of 60° having dense copse vegetation, in the
Jalalabad bazaar, on the semi-deserts, in roadside gutters, in dry
steam beds, under the boulders and rocks of dry talus slopes, and
around the perimeter of an abandoned fort-like compound with
earthen walls.

There were 33 specimens collected in traps, hunting yielded 11
more. Three Suncus murinus and three Rattus rattus were purchased
from the local populace.

Most of the mammals were examined for ectoparasites, and a
Tatera indica and a Meriones libycus burrow system were partially
excavated in search for fleas and ticks.

12. Kandahar

31°39'N 65°40'E; 1006 m.; Sept. 26, 27, A, H, L, N; Oct. 28 to
Nov. 10. Prevalent biotopes: Slope and plateau, Clay and loess,

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 71

Rock, Sand, Watercourse, and Structure in dry, montane, semi-
desert habitat.

Our camp was located immediately north of Kandahar in the gar-
dens of Baba Wali. Collections were taken from between 1000 and
1700 m. elevation.

Collecting excursions beyond the vicinity of our main camp were
made to:

1) Shamshir Ghar (cave) , southwest of Kandahar . . Sept. 26. N ;

Oct. 29; Nov. 5 and 6. A, H.

2) Spin Baldak, SSE of Kandahar. . .Oct. 31. A, H, L, N;

Nov. 7. A, H, L, N.

3) Kalat-i-Ghilzai, NE of Kandahar Nov. 5. N, S.

4) Bolan Cave, near Kalat-i-Ghilzai Nov. 5. N, S.

5) Caves, NW of Kandahar, close to 31°43'N and 65°30'E,

Nov. 2. S.

Temperature records were kept for eight days, Oct. 30 to Nov. 6.
The mean temperature for 96 measurements, one every two hours,
was 13.7°C with a mean daily max. of 25.1°C and a mean daily min.
of 7.2°C. There was no rainfall.

Kandahar is south of the major mountain massifs and north of
the sandy Registan Desert and semi-desert. The foothills near
Kandahar appear as if they had erupted from the plains. Between
Kandahar and Spin Baldak there is a series of low rocky ridges, and
(during our visit) a number of dry stream and river beds. Toward
the Registan, ridges of sand and dunes (some appearing to be over
15 m. high) could be seen, often abutting the stony foothills. Along
the paved highways between Kandahar and Kalat-i-Ghilzai, Spin
Baldak, and Girishk the soil consists of sand and clay with a scatter-
ing of rocks — few more than 50 mm. in diameter.. The vegetation
of these stony semi-deserts consists of scattered clumps of bunch
grasses and shrubs, except for scrub tamarisk along the river bottoms.

Most of the irrigated land is located near the Arghandab river,
including the oasis of Kandahar. There is evidence of some dry
land farming.

Trap sites included: the banks of irrigation ditches, cultivated
gardens, the bases of buildings including the bazaar area, talus slides
on dry north- and south-facing slopes, dry shrubby banks of unused
irrigation ditches, roadside gutters, and erosion gullies, the sandy
semi-desert SSW of Spin Baldak, and the erosion gullies and sloping

72 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

plains of a stony desert covering a low ridge between Kandahar and
Spin Baldak.

Open stands of vegetation in semi-deserts, river bottoms, sand
dunes, dry washes, and rock-covered foothills were searched for noc-
turnal prey. While night hunting, we covered approximately 350 km.
in the above terrain.

Trapping resulted in a catch of 123 specimens, hunting yielded
20, and 45 mammals were purchased including a live macaque mon-
key, Macaca mulatto,, said to have been captured as a juvenile near
C high a Sarai.

Ectoparasites were collected and portions of burrow systems of
Meriones, Tatera, and Gerbillus were excavated and examined for
fleas and ticks.

13. Girishk

31°51'N 64°38,E; 945 m.; Nov. 10 to 14. Prevalent biotopes:
Clay and loess, Sand, Watercourse, and Structure in dry, semi-
desert habitat.
We camped approximately 3 km. northeast of Girishk on the

bank of the Helmand River. Only terrain between 750 and 1150 m.

elevation was sampled.

Collecting excursions beyond the vicinity of our main camp in-
cluded trips to:

1) Qala Bist, south of Girishk Nov. 11, 12. A, H, L and

13. N, S.

2) Vicinity of Musa Qala, approximately 40 km. north of
Girishk Nov. 13. A, H, L.

Temperatures were not recorded, but the weather was very sim-
ilar to that of Kandahar with two notable exceptions: there was a
dust storm and rain showers at Qala Bist on Nov. 11. The dust storm
blew itself out in less than a day. The showers occurred intermit-
tently over a span of eight hours.

The country around Girishk resembles, in part, that surrounding
Kandahar. There are no foothills in the immediate vicinity, but
hills and mountains can be seen to the north and east, the closest
being approximately 35 km. to the northeast. Surrounding Girishk
are semi-deserts, generally with a surface covering of small stones.
Intermittent patches of sand occur between Girishk and Qala Bist.
Southeast of Qala Bist what appear to be vast stretches of sand can
be seen on the low bluffs east of the Helmand River. West of Girishk

■

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 73

pebble-desert intermixed with patches of clay or sand in shallow gul-
lies are the dominant land features, and south, near Darweshan, a
sandy desert occurs west of the Helmand River.

Vegetation is sparse and typical of the semi-desert. The oases
are confined to a narrow belt along either side of the Helmand. This
valley is the site of a large land reclamation program, an aspect de-
scribed in detail by Michel (1959).

We set our traps in gardens and around the sparse, shrub vege-
tation of a pebble desert. Hunting in areas with sand, on the exten-
sive tracts of stony deserts, and in the Helmand River bottom yielded
over half of our specimens for this locality.

Traps caught 27 mammals, and hunting produced 31.

Samples of ectoparasites were taken from most of the species.

14. Dilaram

32°11'N63°27'E; 854 m.; Nov. 14 to 16. H, N, S. Prevalent
biotopes: Clay and loess, Rock, Watercourse, and Structure in
dry, semi-desert habitat.
We stayed in the village of Dilaram. Elevations between 800

and 900 m. were sampled for bats. There were no collections of

terrestrial mammals made in this locality.

Collecting respectively east and west of Dilaram was confined to
two caves:

1) Koh-I-Duzdan cave, 32°13'N 63°29'E Nov. 15. H, N, S.

2) Sarai-Siah Ab cave, 32°12,N 62°19'E Nov. 15. N, S.

15. Qala-i-Kang

30°58'N 61°54'E; 518 m.; Nov. 16 to 20. H, N, S. 31°37'N
63°00'E; 625 m.; Nov. 20 and 21. H, N, S. Prevalent bio-
topes: Sand, Clay and loess, Watercourse, and Structure in dry,
semi-desert habitat.
Our first camp was approximately 10 km. south of Qala-i-Kang,
our second to the northeast along the Khash River. Collecting was
done between 500 and 650 m. elevation within the immediate vicin-
ity of our camps. No temperatures were recorded. Days were
warm, nights cool; there was little wind and no rain.

North of our camp, and surrounding Qala-i-Kang, were the salt
marshes of the Sistan basin. East and south of our camp lay pebble
desert or large plains of hardpan composed chiefly of clay, and west
toward Iran the ruins of numerous buildings and what appeared to

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76 FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

be fallow terraces were partially covered with drifting sand. Except
for an occasional shrub the hardpan plains were barren. The remain-
ing areas had scattered semi-desert or marsh vegetation.

Trap-line sites included: clay mounds and earthen remains of
abandoned buildings, the edge of a marsh, the banks of an irrigation
ditch, clay plains with scattered sand dunes, bunch grass covered
sand dunes and a pebble desert. Night hunting was done on sim-
ilar terrain.

Twenty specimens were caught in traps and 15 were captured
while night hunting. We purchased additional hedgehogs and mice
from the natives.

There were no bats or ectoparasites collected.

GAZETTEER

Explanation of the gazetteer is provided in text under the head-
ing "Collecting localities and itinerary." (p. 57).

PLACE NAME

NATURAL AREA

CO-ORDINATES

North Lat. East Long.

Akcha

North

36.57 66.06

Alingar River

Nuristan, Monsoonal

Afghanistan

See Fig. 2

Amu Darya (river)

North Afghan boundary

See Fig. 2

Andkhui

North

36.57 65.05

Anjuman Pass

Badakhshan

35.50 70.07

Baba Wali

South

31.39 65.40

Badakhshan

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Bala Murghab

North

35.34 64.35

Balkh

North

36.46 66.50

Baluchistan

Province in W. Pakistan

Bamiyan

Central

34.49 67.56

Basawal

Jalalabad Vale

34.13 70.53

Bash Gal River

See Bashgul R.

Bashgul River

Monsoonal Afgh.

Kunar R. tributary

Belchiragh

North

35.50 65.11

Bolan Cave

East

31.55 66.58

Bouean

See Bolan Cave

Bust

See Qala Bist

Candahar

See Kandahar

Cave #61

Jalalabad Vale

Near Nurgul

Central Afgh.

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Chaman

W. Pakistan

30.55 66.27

Chamchir

See Shamshir Ghar

Charikar

East

35.02 69.13

Chigha Sarai

Monsoonal Afgh.

34.52 71.10

Dahnar Ghar (cave)

East

34.24 69.02

Darwashan

See Darweshan

Darweshan

South

31.02 64.08

Dilaram

South

32.11 63.27

East Afgh.

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Eshkashem

See Ishkamish

Faizabad

Badakhshan

37.05 70.40

Farah

South

32.23 62.08

Farindjal

See Firindjal

Firindjal

Central

35.00 68.42

Gardez

East

33.37 69.09

Ghazni

East

33.45 68.28

Ghorband River

Central, East

See Fig. 1

Girishk

South

31.50 64.35

77

78

FIELDIANA: ZOOLOGY, VOLUME 55

PLACE NAME

Hari Rud (river)

Harut River

Helmand River

Herat

Himalayas (mountains)

NATURAL AREA

Central, West

West, South

Central, South

West

East of Afgh.

CO-ORDINATES

North Lat. East Long.

See Fig.
See Fig.
See Fig.
32.20
Asia

62.10

Hindu Kush Mtns. Western extension of the Himalayas in Afghanistan.

Iranian Plateau — A large plateau encompassing parts of: Iran, Baluchistan, and

Afghanistan
Ishkamish Badakhshan 36.43 71.34

Jalalabad

Jalalabad Vale

34.26

70.25

Jalalabad Vale

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Kabul

East

34.30

69.10

Kabul River

East, Monsoonal Afgh.,

See Fig. 2

Jalalabad Vale

See Fig. 1

Kalat

See Kalat-

-Ghilzai

Kalat-i-Ghilzai

East

32.05

66.53

Kalat-us-Siraj

East

34.40

70.18

Kamdesh

Monsoonal Afghanistan

35.25

71.26

Kamu

Monsoonal Afghanistan

35.24

71.23

Kandahar

South

31.36

65.47

Kang

See Qala-i-

Kang

Kara Kum

U.S.S.R.

See Fig. 2

Khash River

Central, South

See Fig. 2

Khost

Monsoonal Afgh.

33.22

70.01

Koh-i-Baba Mtns.

Central

See Fig. 2

Koh-i-Duzdan (cave)

South

32.13

63.29

Kouh Dazd

See Koh-i-

Duzdan

Kokcha River

Badakhshan

See Fig. 2

Kunar River

Monsoonal Afgh.

See Fig. 2

Jalalabad Vale

See Fig. 1

Kunduz

North

36.47

68.51

Kunduz River

North

See Fig. 2

Kushka

U.S.S.R.

35.14

62.15

Khyber Pass

Jalalabad Vale

34.06

71.05

Lalandar

East

34.24

69.02

Madan-Sorb Cave

Central

35.00

68.42

Maimana

North

35.54

64.43

Malik-Dokhand Mtns.

South

Matoon

See Khost

Matun

See Khost

Mazar-i-sharif

North

36.43

67.05

Monsoonal Afgh.

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Moosaqala

See Musa Qala

Murghab

See Bala Murghab

Musa Qala

South

32.23

69.49

Mushkichah

W. Pakistan

29.01

62.26

Nastratabad

Iran

31.01

61.30

North Afgh.

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Northwest Afgh.

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Nurgul

Jalalabad Vale

34.35

70.48

Nuristan

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Oxus River

See Amu Darya

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN

79

PLACE NAME

NATURAL AREA

CO-ORDINATES

North Lat. East Long

Paghman

East

34.36

58.56

Pamir Mtns.

U.S.S.R.

See Fig. 2

Pamirski Post

(U.S.S.R.)

38.11

74.02

Parachinar

(W. Pakistan)

33.54

70.07

Paropamisus Mtns.

Northwest, Central, anc

West Afghanistan

See Fig. 2

Pech River

Nuristan, Monsoonal

Kunar R. tributary

Afghanistan

Pul-i-Khumri

North

35.55

68.45

Qachqar Cave

Jalalabad Vale

Near Nurgul

Qala Bist

South

31.28

64.21

Qala-i-Jadid

See Spin Baldak

Qala-i-Kang

South

31.05

61.52

Qala Safed Ouanai Cave

East

34.30

69.00

Qal'eh Bost

See Qala Bist

Registan Desert

South

See Fig. 2

Safed Koh (Mtn.)

East, Monsoonal Afgh.

Salang Pass

Central

35.24

69.08

Sarai-Siah Ab Cave

South

32.12

62.19

Sauzak Kotal (Pass)

Northwest-Central

See Fig. 2

Scham-Schir-rohr

See Shamshir Ghar

Shamshir Ghar (cave)

South

31.33

65.28

Sheberghan

See Shibarghan

Shibar Pass

Central

34.55

68.18

Shibarghan

North

36.40

65.42

Shombul

Central

34.55

68.18

Sinkiang

China

South Afgh.

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Spin Baldak

South

31.00

66.23

Tangi-Lalandar

See Lalandar

Tatugan

Tadzhikistan (province)

See Taliq-an

U.S.S.R.

See Fig. 1

Taliq-an

North

36.46

69.29

Tashgurghan

North

36.44

67.41

Termez

U.S.S.R.

37.13

67.15

Tirish Mir Mtn.

W. Pakistan

36.18

71.55

Turkmeniya (province)

U.S.S.R.

See Fig. 1

Uzbekistan (province)

U.S.S.R.

See Fig. 1

Wakhan

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Wakhan Corridor

Wakhan

See Fig. 1

West Afgh.

A natural area

See Fig. 1

Zarmast Cave

North

35.51

64.54

Zebak

Badakhshan

36.32

71.21

LITERATURE CITED

Agakhanyants, O. E., O. L. Kryzhanovskii and M. V. Muratov

1963. Polevye issledovaniya v Afghanistane (Field studies in Afghanistan).
Vest. Akad. Nauk. SSSR., 33, no. 2, pp. 100-103.

Borisov, A. A.

1965. Climates of the U.S.S.R. Aldine Publishing Co., Chicago. xxi+225pp.

Curtis, John T.

1956. Man's role in changing the face of the Earth. In William L. Thomas, ed.
The Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 111. xxxviii + 1193 pp.

Eyre, S. R.

1963. Vegetation and soils: a world picture. Aldine Publishing Co., Chicago,
111. xvi+324 pp.

Gansser, A.

1964. Geology of the Himalayas. Interscience Publishers, London, xv+289
pp., four appended plates.

Hillel, D. and Tadmor

1962. Water regime and vegetation in the Central Negev Highlands of Israel.
Ecology, 43, no. 1, pp. 33-41.

Humlum, J.

1959. La geographie de l'Afghanistan. Copenhagen: Gyldenal. 421pp.

Huntington, Ellsworth

1905. Explorations in Turkestan: with an account of the basin of Eastern Persia
and STstan. Raphael Pumpelly, ed. Carnegie Inst, of Wash., Publ. No. 26,
xii+324 pp., illus.

KlTAMURA, SlRO

1960. Flora of Afghanistan. Results of the Kyoto University scientific expe-
dition to the Karakoram and Hindu Kush, 1955. Kyoto University, Vol. II,
ix+486 pp., illus.

Koppen, W.

1931. Grundriss der Klimakunde. Berlin and Leipzig.

Lewis, R. E.

1967. A reflecting marker for locating traps at night. Jour. Mammal., 48,
no. 1, p. 146.

Linchevsky and Prozorovsky

1949. The basic principles of the distribution of the vegetation of Afghanistan
(translated by H. K. Airy Shaw). Kew Bull., no. 1, pp. 179-214, 2 maps.

Michel, Aloys A.

1959. The Kabul, Kunduz, and Helmand Valleys and the national economy of
Afghanistan. National Academy of Sciences — National Research Council,
Washington.

80

HASSINGER: AFGHANISTAN 81

Paludan, Knud

1959. On the birds of Afghanistan. Vidensk. Medd. Dansk. Naturh. For., 122,
332 pp. + l map.

SCHURMANN, H. F.

1962. The Mongols of Afghanistan. Mouton and Co., The Hague, The Nether-
lands. 435 pp.

Stenz, E.

1946. The climate of Afghanistan, its aridity, dryness and divisions. Polish

Institute of Arts and Sciences in America, New York. Pp. 1-14.
1957. Precipitation, evaporation and aridity in Afghanistan. Acta. Geophys.

Pol., 5, pp. 245-266.

Taber, R. D. and R. S. Hoffmann

1963. Behavioral adaptations of mammals to mountain environments. Proc.
IVI Int. Cong, of Zool., 3, p. 54.

Thornthwaite, C. W.

1933. The climates of the Earth. Geogr. Rev., 28, pp. 433-440.

Trewartha, G. T.

1943. An introduction to weather and climate. McGraw-Hill Book Co., Inc.,
New York. 545 pp.

Vavilov, N. I. and D. D. Bukinich

1929. Agricultural Afghanistan. Leningrad, xxxii+610 pp., illus. Russian
text with English summary.

Wilbur, Donald N.

1962a. Afghanistan: Its People, Its Society, Its Culture. Human Relations

Area Files Press, New Haven. 320 pp.
1962b. Annotated bibliography of Afghanistan. 2nd ed., Human Relations

Area Files Press, New Haven.

Publication 1051

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA

590. 5FI C001

FIELOIANA, ZOOLOGYSCHGO
55-58,61 1968-72

""3 0112 609379840

• . . ■ - .-.■■::■.