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Temperate Azonal Vegetation

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Abstract

The common feature of the azonal vegetation of the warm (subtropical), cool (nemoral) and cold-temperate (boreal) ecozones is the complete absence of frost-sensitive woody plants. Cold winters prevent tree growth on wet and salt-affected sites, leaving wetlands such as mires, marshlands and coasts predominantly treeless. These habitats are covered by grasslands dominated by Cyperaceae. Only coastal areas, lake shores, parts of floodplains, some peatlands and rocky outcrops are forested. The vegetation consists of a highly specialized flora capable of coping with excess salt and regular flooding (salt marshes), sand intrusion and salt spray (coastal dunes), or nutrient deficiency and wetness (mires). Furthermore, the peat-forming bogs and fens sequester major amounts of carbon.

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  1. TUM School of Life Sciences, The Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany

    Jörg S. Pfadenhauer

  2. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Frank A. Klötzli

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Pfadenhauer, J.S., Klötzli, F.A. (2020). Temperate Azonal Vegetation. In: Global Vegetation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-49860-3_9

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