This volume of Tasks for Vegetation Science (H. Lieth and H.A. Mooney, eds.) presents new developments in quantitative methodologies for phytogeographical analysis. It is the result of the 1987 Botanical Congress in Berlin, during which Drs Nimis and Haeupler organized a symposium on present-day phytogeographical studies. The book offers a series of innovative numerical techniques, which are most helpful next to the more traditional descriptive analysis of phytogeographical regions and vegetation types. It contains nine papers on subjects ranging from the use of satellite imagery in quantitative phytogeography to distributional patterns of bryophytes and lichens. The many welldocumented examples of case-studies illustrate the way in which new analytical methods can be applied successfully.