Historical introduction

Ecological interest in climates of the tropical alpine regions of the world dates back perhaps to the early travels of La Condamine in Ecuador in the mid-19th century, but more dramatically to the remarkable explorations of Alexander von Humboldt in the northern Andes, Central America and Mexico from 1799 to 1804. His contributions to science from these travels, which encompassed geography, biology, geology, climatology, anthropology and other subjects, filled 30 volumes (von Humboldt 1807–39), and had a tremendous influence on the intellectual and economic development of Latin America in the 19th century. No less an authority than Simon Bolivar once remarked, ‘Baron Humboldt did more for the Americas than all of the conquistadors’ (Von Hagen 1948). The scientific studies of von Humboldt served as the foundation of the modern science of biogeography, and his climatological observations in the Andes and on the Mexican volcanoes played a major role in the development of his ideas.

Another notable advance in scientific knowledge of alpine climatology in tropical mountain regions came not from a typical scientist at all but from the noted European alpinist, Edward Whymper. Whymper, who had been the first man to scale the Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps in 1865, came to Ecuador in 1879 to attempt climbs of Chimborazo and other high volcanoes of that region. He was spectacularly successful not only in these ascents, but in the wealth of ecological and climatological data which he collected and published (Whymper 1892).