Читать книгу The Swiss Alps онлайн

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The response is three signals per minute, followed by a pause of one minute.

RESCUE EMERGENCY CARE

First aid training courses designed especially for outdoor pursuits are available throughout the UK and Ireland. Go to www.recfirstaid.net.

Cicerone publishes a very useful pocket-sized first aid handbook: First Aid and Wilderness Medicine by Drs Jim Duff and Peter Gormly.

The extravagant spotted gentian

Trumpet gentian (Photos: Linda Reynolds)

Plant and Animal Life

Plants and animals are vital to the alpine environment, and whether the visitor is intent on walking, trekking or climbing, an awareness of the rich variety of flora and fauna will help create a multi-dimensional experience. Plantlife is incredibly varied, thanks to the wide climatic differences that allow palm trees to flourish below the Lepontines of Ticino, while the glacier crowfoot has been found blooming near the summit of the Finsteraarhorn at over 4200m.

Alpine flora

While the range of mountain plants is enormous, they are grouped by habitat, soil and climate, rather than scattered in a haphazard manner, and are roughly divided between those that are lime-loving and those that exist only among non-calcareous formations. Habitats range from lush meadow to damp marsh and acid bog, from deciduous woodland and coniferous forest to virtually soil-less scree, moraine bank, high rock face and wind-scoured ridge. With such a diverse range of habitats, it’s little wonder that Switzerland has around 620 species of flowering plant, and no matter how small some may be, no matter how remote and inhospitable their lodging place, each one is an integral part of the mountain world.