It can be a long climb to the top of a mountain, but once you’re there, you can see for miles. It’s like you’re standing on top of the world!

Mountains also provide us with many important goods, including wood, pastures for livestock, drinking water and clean air. All are provided by mountain ecosystems, through complex processes, that are maintained by the community of different species and their interactions between them and with the abiotic environment. Those species are numerous. They comprise invisible microorganisms, tiny plankton species, small plants, trees, cryptic reptiles and amphibians, swift birds, and mammals. Those species produce organic matter, bind CO2, and produce oxygen.