You will ...

• perhaps be surprised that certain organisms like what humans consider stressful
• acknowledge that the common "stress and limitation" concept is problematic
• adopt a less anthropocentric view of life in the cold

You will learn ...

• which physical constraints may impair alpine plant life at times
• what the critical thresholds of such influences are
• under which conditions alpine plants are at risk of being damaged by climatic extremes

You will understand ...

• the mechanisms of frost tolerance
• the circumstances under which heat may become critical
• why and when excess solar radiation can be problematic

You will will be able to ...

• distinguish between conditioning and destructive climatic deviations from optimality
• estimate the risk of damage by extreme events in alpine plants
• explain how such effects operate and how plants can cope with these constraints