25 chapters describing the distribution, ecology, and evolution of plants and animals in the Appalachian mountains. The Symposium was held at Virginia Polytechnic and State University in June, 1995. Building on the foundation provided by a series of symposia convened 1969-1976 on The Distributional History of the Biota of the Southern Appalachians, these contributions provided new knowledge of the flora and fauna of this region as well as new information gained from the recent application of methodologies not included in the previous volumes.