ABSTRACT
This book is built around three major themes: research beyond disciplinary boundaries; integrated approaches to managing ecosystems; and mountain environments and the people who depend on them. This introductory chapter has two main aims. The first is to briefly present and discuss these three themes; the first two are clearly linked and provide the conceptual foundations for the book, while the third gives the setting for the four wide-ranging chapters and nine case studies that constitute the majority of the book. The second aim is to introduce these thematic chapters and case studies, which are further synthesized in the concluding chapter, which also presents the lessons learned from these experiences.
