Tropical alpine environments at altitudes above the closed canopy forest and below the limit of plant life present an unusual set of complex stresses for plant species unlike temperate alpine environments where there are distinct seasons of favorable and unfavorable conditions for growth tropical alpine habitats present summer conditions every day and winter conditions every night. C cambridge university press wwwcambridgeorg cambridge university press 052142089x tropical alpine environments plant form and function edited by philip w . Plants growing in tropical alpine environments at altitudes above the closed canopy forest and below the limit of plant life have evolved distinct forms to cope with a hostile environment characterized by cold drought and fire unlike temperate alpine environments where there are distinct seasons of favourable and unfavourable conditions for growth tropical alpine habitats present summer . Get this from a library tropical alpine environments plant form and function philip w rundel alan p smith f c meinzer plants growing in tropical alpine environments at altitudes above the closed canopy forest and below the limit of plant life have evolved distinct forms to cope with a hostile environment . Tropical alpine vegetation refers to regions within the tropics occurring between the upper limit of continuous closed canopy forest at approximately 3500 3900 m and the upper limit of plant life at around 4600 4900 m this book presents a diversity of perspective on the plant form and function in tropical alpine environments the chapters focus on physiological plant ecology plant