Flower morphology of 10 Fritillaria species of subgenera Theresia and Fritillaria growing wild in Iran is studied using seventy morphological characters. Qualitative and quantitative datasets separated taxa into subgenera, sectional and groups. Three enigmatic species F. caucasica, F. zagrica (endemic to Zagros Mountains) and F. pinardii (recently reported from Zagros Mountains) appeared as clo...

The China–Pakistan international Karakoram Highway passes through the core area of “Karakoram Anomaly,” whose glaciers have maintained or increased their mass during a period when most worldwide receded. We synthesized literature and used remote-sensing techniques to review types, distribution, characteristics, causes frequency major glacial hazards along Highway. found that glacier-related cou...

This review examines interpretive issues relating to catastrophic, long-runout landslides in the context of large numbers of recently discovered late Quaternary events. It links relevant research in landslide science, including some novel or hitherto-ignored complexities in the nature and role of these events, to broader concerns of mountain geomorphology. Attention is drawn to mountain ranges ...

Plecopteran species (Leuctridae) were collected from the Qinling Mountains in southern Shaanxi Province, China. This mountain range is home to nine species of Leuctridae belonging to two genera, and the species identified in this work include one new species and three new records for the Qinling Mountains, all belonging to the genus Rhopalopsole. The new species is named R. tricuspis Qian and D...

According to some treatises, arctic and alpine sub-biomes are ecologically similar, whereas others find them highly dissimilar. Most peculiarly, large areas of northern tundra highlands fall outside of the two recent subdivisions of the tundra biome. We seek an ecologically natural resolution to this long-standing and far-reaching problem. We studied broad-scale patterns in climate and vegetati...

massive than all human structures combined and are sculpted in greater detail than a Baroque palace. The world’s tallest pinnacle—Mount Everest in the Himalayas— reaches 8,848 meters, or about 15 times higher than anything people have ever built. Not surprisingly, such spectacular topography has evoked awe and inspired artists and adventurers throughout human existence. Recent research has led ...

massive than all human structures combined and are sculpted in greater detail than a Baroque palace. The world’s tallest pinnacle—Mount Everest in the Himalayas— reaches 8,848 meters, or about 15 times higher than anything people have ever built. Not surprisingly, such spectacular topography has evoked awe and inspired artists and adventurers throughout human existence. Recent research has led ...