Biodiversity and Conservation of Neotropical Montane Forests. Proceedings of the Neotropical Montane Forest Biodiversity and Conservation Symposium, the New York Botanical Garden, 21–26 June 1993
scales, new approaches are espoused. These relate to modelling, taxonomy, instrumentation and sampling. Much con®dence is placed in modelling to link local (ecological) and regional (oceanographic) processes. Experimentalists may not share this con®dence but alternative approaches may be intractable. Substantive issues that might have been covered more fully include the taxonomic resolution required when testing for anthropogenic impact, the magnitude of impact (effect size) considered ecologically signi®cant and the `learning by doing' use of large-scale management experiments. While the book's concern about taxonomic competence is, in general, well placed, it is increasingly clear that family-level, or even higher, taxonomic resolution is ecacious in locating statistically signi®cant ecological dierences associated with human impact. The eect-size issue is important in the hypothesis-testing/type II error context. There are several quibbles. For example, the title on the cover is misleading, lacking as it does the subtitle `A Research Agenda for the Nation'. Further, there is some confusion over cause and eect. Surely it is anthropogenic causes rather than anthropogenic eects that produce biodiversity changes (pp. xi, 35). The glossary contains a paltry 31 entries. Notable omissions from the otherwise useful reference list include productive Australian (especially rocky intertidal and coral reef) and European (especially soft sediment) workers. Overall, I found this book stimulating and clearly written. It has tackled large, important issues that daily become more urgent and its emphasis on scale is appropriate. One hopes that the funding, co-ordination and collaboration necessary to prosecute its ambitious main recommendations will be forthcoming.