The United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development (UNCED), held in Rio de Janeiro in 1992, spawned a multitude of pro grammes aimed at assessing, managing and conserving the earth's biological diversity. One important issue addressed at the conference was the mountain environment. A specific feature of high mountains is the so-called alpine zone, i. e. the treeless regions at the uppermost reaches. Though covering only a very small proportion of the land surface, the alpine zone contains a rela tively large number of plants, animals, fungi and microbes which are specifi cally adapted to cold environments. This zone contributes fundamentally to the planet's biodiversity and provides many resources for mountain dwelling as well as lowland people. However, rapid and largely man-made changes are affecting mountain ecosystems, such as soil erosion, losses of habitat and genetic diversity, and climate change, all of which have to be addressed. As stated in the European Community Biodiversity Strategy, "the global scale of biodiversity reduction or losses and the interdependence of different species and ecosystems across national borders demands concerted international action". Managing biodiversity in a rational and sustainable way needs basic knowledge on its qualitative and quantitative aspects at local, regional and global scales. This is particularly true for mountains, which are distributed throughout the world and are indeed hot spots of biodiversity in absolute terms as well as relative to the surrounding lowlands.

1 An Outline of Europe's Alpine Areas

2 A Bioclimatic Characterisation of Europe's Alpine Areas
3 The Regional Accounts
4 Overview: Patterns in Diversity
5 Taxonomic Diversity of Vascular Plants in the European Alpine Areas
6 Patterns in the Plant Species Richness of European High Mountain Vegetation
7 Altitude Ranges and Spatial Patterns of Alpine Plants in Northern Europe
8 Vascular Plant and Bryophyte Diversity Along Elevational Gradients in the Alps
9 Assessing the Long-Term Dynamics of Endemic Plants at Summit Habitats
10 Mapping Alpine Vegetation
11 A GIS Assessment of Alpine Biodiversity at a Range of Scales
12 Overview: Invertebrate Diversity in Europe's Alpine Regions
13 The Geographical Distribution of High Mountain Macrolepidoptera in Europe
14 High Altitude Invertebrate Diversity in the Ural Mountains
15 The Diversity of High Altitude Arachnids (Araneae, Opiliones, Pseudoscorpiones) in the Alps
16 Patterns of Butterfly Diversity Above the Timberline in the Italian Alps and Apennines
17 Diversity Patterns of Carabids in the Alps and the Apennines
18 Overview: Alpine Vertebrates - Some Challenges for Research and Conservation Management
19 Breeding Bird Assemblages and Habitat Use of Alpine Areas in Scotland
20 Rodents in the European Alps: Population Ecology and Potential Impacts on Ecosystems
21 Large Herbivores in European Alpine Ecosystems: Current Status and Challenges for the Future
22 Diversity of Alpine Vertebrates in the Pyrenees and Sierra Nevada, Spain
23 The Impacts of Vertebrate Grazers on Vegetation in European High Mountains
24 Overview: Alpine Vegetation Dynamics and Climate Change - a Synthesis of Long-Term Studies and Observations
25 Long-Term Changes in Alpine Plant Communities inNorway and Finland
26 Vegetation Dynamics at the Treeline Ecotone in the Ural Highlands, Russia
27 Recent Increases in Summit Flora Caused by Warming in the Alps
28 The Piz Linard (3411 m), the Grisons, Switzerland - Europe's Oldest Mountain Vegetation Study Site
29 Alpine Biodiversity in Space and Time: a Synthesis.