Abstract
Tropical mountains and highlands are mostly located in the zone between 20° South and 20° North approximately. In Southeast Asia and eastern India, tropical climates extend north to near 30° latitude. Vegetational zonation is extremely variable in tropical mountain areas. In tropical highlands, there is very little seasonal fluctuation in temperature, but the daily temperature fluctuation is markedly greater than in mid-latitude mountains. The daily temperature extremes produce a large number of freeze-thaw days in tropical highlands.
Major highland areas with permanent human populations are mostly in the tropical zone. Examples discussed in the symposium were the Andes, the Ethiopian highlands and the eastern Himalayas; although the Tibetan plateau is located in the temperate zone, this region also supports sizable and permanent human population. In different tropical highlands, many similar adaptive strategies can be found. Mixed agro-pastoral subsistence is an outstanding feature of adaptation to tropical mountain ecosystems. Such subsistence is carried out in extremely high altitudes despite harsh conditions. Intensive land use has had similar dramatic consequences in each area. Deforestation, floods and erosion are a shared experience for highland people.
Highland adaptations are similar or parallel in a broad sense. In this symposium, striking differences were also pointed out in relation to transhumant migratory pattern, food production, and social organization. Comparative studies of cultural adaptation are needed to understand the general and specific problems associated with human occupation of tropical mountain environments.
