Life zones of central Europe

Central Europe contains several life zones, depending on location and elevation.

Geographically, Central Europe lies between the Baltic Sea and the Apennine and Balkan peninsulas. It includes the plains of Germany and Poland; the Alps; and the Carpathian Mountains. The Central European Flora region stretches from Central France to Central Romania and Southern Scandinavia. The lowlands of Central Europe contain the Central European mixed forests ecoregion, while the mountains host the Alps conifer and mixed forests and Carpathian montane conifer forests ecoregions.

An important factor in the local climate and ecology of Central Europe is the elevation: an increase of elevation by 1,000 metres (3,300 ft) causes the average air temperature to drop by 5 °C (41 °F) and decreases the amount of water that can be held by the atmosphere by 30%. This decrease in temperature and increase in rainfall result in altitudinal zonation, where the land can be divided into life zones of similar climate and ecology, depending on elevation.

The life zones of the Eastern and Central Alps are:

Location, avg annual precipitation (mm), altitude (amsl) and avg annual temperature (°C):

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