There are many factors that could mess up this logic. 1) the season. 2) the size of the boulder. 3) The aspect of the land on which the boulder lies. 4) The lattitude. 5) The climate of the area where this boulder resides.
All of these things interact, which is why the old saying that moss grows on the North side of the tree trunk is often found useless when tree trunks are entirely surrounded by moss or missing moss entirely! I would start perusing old general ecology and plant ecology books. There should be wide spread evidence of this in reference to mountain slopes (see hill prairies). I also vaguely recall a paper on six-lined racerunners selecting south-facing road cuts for burrows. I think you need to access some old issues of bioabstracts or zoological record as the research pubs you are looking for very likely pre-date the 1960s and are unlikely to be accessed by electronic sources. Does that help? Macolm On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 11:35 AM, Mark Wilson <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi folks, > I am looking for a reference which states > (1) that in the northern hemisphere the north side of boulders are > less exposed to the sun than the south side > and > (2) that the east side of boulders are exposed to the sun only in the > morning when temperatures tend to be cooler while west sides are > exposed during the afternoon when temperatures tend to be higher and > as a result the north and east side of boulders are likely to stay > cooler and damper longer. > Any suggestions? > Mark > -- Malcolm L. McCallum Managing Editor, Herpetological Conservation and Biology 1880's: "There's lots of good fish in the sea" W.S. Gilbert 1990's: Many fish stocks depleted due to overfishing, habitat loss, and pollution. 2000: Marine reserves, ecosystem restoration, and pollution reduction MAY help restore populations. 2022: Soylent Green is People! Confidentiality Notice: This e-mail message, including any attachments, is for the sole use of the intended recipient(s) and may contain confidential and privileged information. Any unauthorized review, use, disclosure or distribution is prohibited. If you are not the intended recipient, please contact the sender by reply e-mail and destroy all copies of the original message.
