Alpine (range)

Alpine environments are distinctive for their elevation, which creates a landscape of rock, tundra and small stands of trees with sufficient shelter to produce a temperature at which these plants can thrive. Such copses are small and are found in soil-filled crevasses and along the least elevated edges of the alpine plateau. Dwarf shrubs are more common. These sub-alpine conditions disappear above the tree-line, leaving only grasses; higher still, above the snow line, snow and ice persist all year long.