Mountain forests under change – a synthesis

Roughly 15 Mio km2 (twice the area of Australia) of mountain terrain are potentially forested globally. With increasing elevation the number of tree species that can cope with reduced temperature declines, until around 200 species are left world-wide that can cope with the life conditions at treeline. A warmer climate will most commonly reduce climatic constraints, cause species within montane forests to move upslope and so will the upper tree limit. The aim of this workshop is to summarize the evidence for such changes as presented at IMC and the current literature. What are the likely consequences of these changes? What are the future challenges in research? We hope to gather all IMC session conveners on mountain forest topics ready to contribute a 2-3 minute resume of their session and, together with all presenters of topics relevant for forest, to join a discussion on the greater implications.