11 Facts About Tree line

Tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing.

The tree line is sometimes distinguished from a lower timberline or forest line, which is the line below which trees form a forest with a closed canopy.

Tree line often appears well-defined, but it can be a more gradual transition.

An alpine tree line is the highest elevation that sustains trees; higher up it is too cold, or the snow cover lasts for too much of the year, to sustain trees.

Alpine tree line boundary is seldom abrupt: it usually forms a transition zone between closed forest below and treeless alpine tundra above.

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However, snow accumulation in sheltered gullies in the Selkirk Mountains of southeastern British Columbia causes the timberTree line to be 400 metres lower than on exposed intervening shoulders.

The desert tree line tends to be lower on pole-facing slopes than equator-facing slopes, because the increased shade on the former keeps them cooler and prevents moisture from evaporating as quickly, giving trees a longer growing season and more access to water.

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.

Arctic tree line is the northernmost latitude in the Northern Hemisphere where trees can grow; farther north, it is too cold all year round to sustain trees.

However, no such line exists for swamps, where trees, such as bald cypress and the many mangrove species, have adapted to growing in permanently waterlogged soil.

In Southwestern United States like Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada, the tree line is categorized at the point where the most extreme amounts of rainfall and temperature are sufficient for tree growth.