Cuillin He partnered Louis Agassiz on his trip to Scotland in 1840 and although they subsequently argued, Forbes went on to publish other important papers on Alpine glaciers. In 1904 Alfred Harker published "The Tertiary Igneous Rocks of Skye", the first detailed scientific study of an extinct volcano. The Cuillin encompasses a wide range of habitats, changing with altitude. At the base there are conifer plantations, coastal woodlands and areas of heather moorland and rough grassland. The lower slopes are covered by various different types of bog, with grassland on the better-drained slopes that are found above 400 m. Higher up,
Cuillin the rocky hills are largely bare, with exposed rock and scree. The entire area is designated as a Special Protection Area under the Natura 2000 programme due particularly for its importance to golden eagles. The site is of European importance for these birds, and holds one of the highest-density populations in Britain, having an unusually high breeding productivity. 911 pairs were estimated in 1992, this representing at least 2.8 % of the breeding population in Great Britain at that time. The Cuillin are protected as a national scenic area, defined so as to identify areas of exceptional scenery and to