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So zväčšujúcou sa nadmorskou výškou ubúda teplota, skracuje sa dĺžka vegetačného obdobia a pribúdajú zrážky a vlhkosť ovzdušia, čo spôsobuje, že sa mení aj zloženie rastlinstva. To sa podľa nárokov na teplo a vodu rozoskupilo na výškové vegetačné pásma.

Nadmorská výška hraníc výškových vegetačných stupňov sa dvíha v závislosti od mierneho narastania kontinentality podnebia od západu na východ. V západnej časti republiky, t. j. v Krušných horách, na Šumave, v Krkonošiach, v Kralickom Snéžniku a v Hrubom Jeseníku je horná hranica lesa vo výškach 1200-1300 m n. m., lebo leto je tam chladnejšie. Vo východnej časti štátu stúpa horná hranica lesa v Beskydách na 1350 m n. m., v Malej Fatre, Veľkej Fatre, v Nízkych Tatrách a Tatrách na 1400-1600 m n. m., lebo letá sú tam teplejšie. Výškové vegetačné pásma sa zoraďujú zdola nahor:

1. pásmo dubín a dubohrabín,

2. pásmo bučín,

3. pásmo smrečín,

4. pásmo kosodreviny,

5. pásmo prirodzených holí (alpínskych lúk),

6. podsnežné pásmo. 

Scientists divide the Earth’s land into what are called vegetation regions. These areas have distinct types of plants, soil, and weather patterns. Vegetation regions can be divided into five major types: forest, grassland, tundra, desert, and ice sheet. Climate, soil, the ability of soil to hold water, and the slope, or angle, of the land all determine what types of plants will grow in a particular region.

Forest

Forests are areas with trees grouped in a way so their leaves, or foliage, shade the ground. Forests can be found just about anywhere trees can grow, from below sea level to high in the mountains. From tropical rain forests near the Equator to boreal forests in cold climates close to the Arctic Circle, different types of forests can be found all over the world.

One way to classify different types of forests is by the type of trees a forest has. Deciduous forests have trees with green leaves that change color in the fall and drop altogether in the winter. Trees that are common in deciduous forests are oak and maple. The northeastern United States is covered in deciduous forest, and tourists flock to the area every autumn to experience the orange, yellow, and red leaves blanketing the region.

Evergreen forests have trees with leaves that stay green all year long. One of the places evergreen forests can be found is on the opposite side of the North American continent—in the Pacific Northwest, which includes the Canadian province of British Columbia and the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. The Pacific Northwest is full of evergreen trees like fir.

Sometimes forests are classified by the type of leaves on their trees. Trees in broad-leaved forests have wide, flat leaves. Tropical rain forests are a type of broad-leaved forest. Tropical rain forests, such as Brazil’s Amazon Basin rain forest, are found near the Equator. They contain more than half of the world’s biodiversity, or variety of plant and animal species.

Coniferous forests have trees with cones and needles instead of leaves. Coniferous forests have the tallest (coast redwood), largest (giant sequoia), and oldest (bristlecone pine) trees in the world.

Many forests are mixed, meaning they have both broadleaf and coniferous trees. The eucalyptus forests of Australia are mixed forests, for instance. The evergreen eucalyptus trees are mixed with deciduous trees like beech.