The montane forests of Central and South America form an extension of the tropical rainforest, embracing a high diversity of flora, fauna, environment, climate and people. Biodiversity is high; so is endemism; and there are important centres of speciation. The 52 papers (nine in Spanish) are arranged into sections on: Past vegetation - Cretaceous to the Holocene; Present vegetation - floristic inventory and ecological studies; Taxonomic diversity - fungi, lichens, liverworts and mosses; Taxonomic diversity - fern alles, ferns and flowering plants; Plants and humans - impact and utilization in montane environments; and montane forests - conservation and the future. Most contributions are abstracted individually -P.J.Jarvis
