Reprinted from Vegetatio 83 (1989), the 24 articles discuss such topics as the structure of theory; explanation and prediction; a new model for the continuum concept; and theories of fuzzy systems, ecological fields, and spatial and temporal dynamics of plant communities. Reports of applying and tes

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-...

Proceedings of the symposium of the Working-Group for Theoretical Vegetation Science of the International Association for Vegetation Science held in Vienna, July 4-11, 1988