Kilimanjaro has a series of vegetation zones consisting of (from base to summit) the semi-dry area of the surrounding plateau; the mountain’s cultivated, well-watered southern slopes; dense cloud forest; open moorland; alpine desert; and moss communities. Two important species that grow in the moorlands are the giant lobelia and the giant groundsel. The forests of the southern slopes and surrounding areas are home to elephants, buffalo, and eland (oxlike antelopes). Smaller mammals living in the forests include black and white monkeys, blue monkeys, and bushbuck and duikers (small African antelopes). The forests also host a rich variety of birdlife, including the rare Abbot’s starling. The Kilimanjaro formations became known to Europeans when they were reached in 1848 by the German missionaries Johannes Rebmann and Johann Ludwig Krapf, although the news that there were snow-capped mountains so close to the Equator was not believed until more than a decade later. The Kibo summit was first reached in 1889 by the German geographer Hans Meyer and the Austrian mountaineer Ludwig Purtscheller. The Kilimanjaro region is one of Tanzania’s leading producers of mild coffee, wheat, and sugar; other crops include sisal, corn (maize), beans, bananas, wattle bark, cotton, and potatoes. The region is populated by the Chaga, Pare, Kahe, and Mbugu peoples. The town of Moshi, at the southern foot of Kilimanjaro, is the chief trading center and base for ascent. As Kibo’s peak can be reached without the aid of mountaineering equipment, thousands of hikers attempt the ascent each year. The underlined word “dense” in paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to ……………….. .