ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how the biodiversity wealth can best be conserved in mountain areas in view of the changes in human use of mountains, in natural catastrophes that characterize mountains, and the impact of exogenous threats such as climate change and air pollution. The neotropical mountain humid slopes have greater mammal biodiversity than the much publicized Amazon lowland rainforest. The rich biodiversity is due to the altitudinal zonation of life forms, the exposure to different orientations, the soil variability and the abundance of microhabitats associated with mountain topography and features. R. F. Noss has laid out an approach and guidelines for maintaining biodiversity in a regional landscape based on the science of conservation biology. The science of conservation biology has given the basis for the selection and design of protected areas in order to conserve species and genetic flows that keep populations viable.
