I have been reading much about the distribution of African vegetation types - particularly what determines their distribution. It is interesting to go back to the 'old' literature, and discover how people with field knowledge only made the same generalizations that we find today with data obtained using advanced remote sensing techniques, which, in principle, allow us to find statistical relationships without ever putting our foot on the continent. In particular, I am impressed by that seminal work: Frank White's vegetation map of Africa. How one man could have gained an overview of the vegetation of this enormous, and often difficult to travel in, continent, is incredible! On the other hand, eventhough I am working with large-scale datasets, I find that knowing some parts of Africa is immensely helpful for interpreting the patterns I find. I do have to be careful, however, that my interpretation of the results I am obtaining for my studies is not biased towards what I know of southern African (and the little I saw of West African) ecology? I should plan a trip to East Africa soon, I think! :)