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Krummholz Pinus albicaulis in Wenatchee National Forest Wind-sculpted krummholz trees, Ona Beach, Oregon. Krummholz (German: krumm, "crooked, bent, twisted" and Holz, "wood") — also called knieholz ("knee timber") — is a type of stunted, deformed vegetation encountered in the subarctic and subalpine tree line landscapes, shaped by continual exposure to fierce, freezing winds.
Pinus aristata is a medium-size tree, commonly reaching 15 meters (49 ft) in height and occasionally as much as 20 m (66 ft) in their natural habitat.In favorable conditions they are straight and upright trees, but they become increasingly stunted, short, and twisted the closer they grow to timberline. [4]
These occur only on the highest peaks and ridges, where the soils are poor, the growing season short, and moisture comes from rain, snow, and fog. Red spruce, Fraser fir, yellow birch, mountain ash, and mountain maple identify these forests, while hobblebush and bearberry occur in the understory. [5]
The climate of subalpine ecosystems is dominated by very long winters and short growing seasons of 6–9 weeks. Temperatures are cool even during the growing season and frost can occur 12 months of the year. Precipitation ranges from 750–1,250 millimetres (30–50 in) per year, which falls mostly as snow during the winter. [2]
Sorbus americana (American Rowan or mountain-ash) Sorbus aucuparia (European rowan) - introduced; Sorbus decora (Showy Rowan or mountain-ash) Sorbus sitchensis (Sitka Rowan or mountain-ash) Syringa. Syringa vulgaris (Common lilac) Tilia (lindens) Tilia americana (Basswood) Tilia cordata (Little-leaf linden) - introduced; Tilia tomentosa (Silver ...
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. [ 2 ] : 151 The climate above the tree line of mountains is called an alpine climate , [ 14 ] : 21 and the habitat can be described as the alpine zone . [ 15 ]
Aspen trees are all native to cold regions with cool summers, in the north of the northern hemisphere, extending south at high-altitude areas such as mountains or high plains. They are all medium-sized deciduous trees reaching 15–30 m (50–100 ft) tall. In North America, the aspen is referred to as quaking aspen or trembling aspen because ...
The elevation where trees fail to grow is called the tree line. The biotemperature of the subalpine zone is between 3 and 6 °C (37 and 43 °F). [5] Above the tree line the ecosystem is called the alpine zone or alpine tundra, dominated by grasses and low-growing shrubs. The biotemperature of the alpine zone is between 1.5 and 3 °C (34.7 and ...