Timberline

views updated

Timberline

The elevational or latitudinal extent of forests. Above upper timberline, either at high elevations or at the Arctic or Antarctic limits, atmospheric and soil temperatures are too cold for forest development. Below lower timberline, conditions are too dry to support forests. Timberlines are more common and pronounced in the western than in the eastern United States because of more extreme topographic and climatic conditions in the West.

More From encyclopedia.com