High Altitude Tropical Biogeography

High altitude mountain regions occur throughout the tropics of Central and South America, Africa, and Malaysia. As a consequence of the cool and dry conditions, the animals and plants of these zones more closely resemble their counterparts thousands of miles to the north or south than comparable species in the lowland jungles only a few thousand metres below. The editors of this book have brought together leading researchers in a wide-ranging monograph on the climate and origin, ecology, and evolution of the animals and plants of this ecological zone, drawing on specific well-studied examples.