Mountains cover about a quarter of the world’s land surface, and directly support a significant proportion of the world’s population living within mountainous regions. Mountains provide water, timber and non-timber forest products, mineral resources, and many other food, fiber, and fuel products. Mountains also provide diverse ecosystems, in terms of both species and genetics, due to the topographic complexity in mountains increasing isolation and promoting speciation. Managing mountain regions for the sustainable delivery of critical goods and services requires an increasingly detailed understanding of mountain surface processes and regulation. The aim of this Guest Edited Collection is to provide a platform for interdisciplinary studies of mountain surface processes, and their responses to climate change and human activities.