Abstract
Recent information on climatic warming is reviewed in both the global and New Zealand contexts, with emphasis on the relatively sensitive plants of the alpine zone. Also discussed is the initiation in 2001 of the Global Observation Research Initiative in Alpine Environments (GLORIA) project to establish a long-term vegetation/environment monitoring network in Europe, using standardised criteria and methods, and which is now being extended to the global level. Two sites ("target regions") have been selected and established on conservation land in New Zealand, using the standardised procedure. One target region with a single summit is on Mt Burns in the perhumid Fiord Ecological Region, the other with two summits is on the upper slopes of the Pisa Range, the highest in the subcontinental Central Otago Ecological Region. These are briefly characterised in terms of their floras and plant cover, as well as their current temperature (air and soil) environments, based on 2-year records.