Humans are an important species in the long-term ecosystem states and processes of mountain areas, influencing many ecological interactions including predation, herbivory, fire, vegetation succession, and species introductions and extinctions. The IRMMA conference included presentations from interdisciplinary research and management initiatives that integrate disciplines such as climatology, geomorphology, archaeology, history, anthropology, sociology, and ecology ― initiatives from mountain areas around the world. The presentations emphasised the process, outcomes, and uses of interdisciplinary research at least as much as the scientific results. The conference then sought syntheses of the principles of effective interdisciplinary research to aid in decision- and policy-making for mountain ecosystems. This knowledge will be of value to those managing and restoring cordilleran and other mountain ecosystems.

The conference program also featured a series of concurrent sessions describing recent interdisciplinary research and management projects in the Canadian Rocky Mountains. New perspectives on the changing, long-term influences of humans in these landscapes are guiding a range of innovative initiatives for managing human use impacts, large mammal predator/prey/herbivory patterns, and prescribed fire use.