page_title: Tree line
section_title: Typical tree-line species
hierarchical_section_title: Tree line / Typical tree-line species
caption_attribution_description: English: Larch (Larix gmelinii, syn. L. dahurica) forest in the fall. Upper Kolyma region, arctic northeast Siberia, Russia.
context_page_description: The tree-line or timberline is the edge of the habitat at which trees can grow. Beyond the tree-line, they are unable to grow as conditions are too bad.
  There are several types of tree lines defined in ecology and geology:
  Arctic tree-line The farthest north in the Northern Hemisphere that trees can grow; farther north, it is too cold.
  Antarctic tree-line The farthest south in the Southern Hemisphere that trees can grow; farther south, it is too cold as well.
  Alpine tree-line The highest height where trees grow: higher up, it is too cold, or snow covers the ground for too much of the year. The climate above the tree-line is called an alpine climate.
  Exposure tree-line On coasts and isolated mountains, the tree-line is often much lower than in corresponding altitudes inland and in larger, more complex mountain systems, because strong winds reduce tree growth.
  Desert tree-line The places where trees cannot grow as there is too little rainfall.
  Toxic tree-line The environment is too extreme for trees to grow.
context_section_description: Some typical tree-line tree species (note the predominance of conifers):
  Dahurian Larch (Larix gmelinii)
  Foxtail Pine (Pinus balfouriana)
  Great Basin Bristlecone Pine (Pinus longaeva)
  Rocky Mountains Bristlecone Pine (Pinus aristata)
  Potosi Pinyon (Pinus culminicola)
  Macedonian Pine (Pinus peuce)
  Whitebark Pine (Pinus albicaulis)
  Swiss Pine (Pinus cembra)
  Mountain Pine (Pinus mugo)
  Hartweg's Pine (Pinus hartwegii)
  Subalpine Larch (Larix lyallii)
  Arctic White Birch (Betula pubescens subsp. tortuosa)
  Snow Gum (Eucalyptus pauciflora)
  Antarctic Beech (Nothofagus Antarctica)
caption: Dahurian Larch growing close to the Arctic tree-line in the Kolyma region, Arctic northeast Siberia.
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