latitudinal vegetation zone A major vegetation belt that coincides with a broad, global, climatic regime. Thus, rain forest relates to the equatorial climate, and savannah to the seasonal tropics roughly 10°–20° on either side of the equator. The simple pattern is complicated by the effects of altitude, so that in each latitudinal vegetation zone there are found vegetation types more characteristic of latitudes nearer the poles.

latitudinal vegetation zone A major vegetation belt that coincides with a broad, global, climatic regime. Thus rain forest relates to the equatorial climate, and savannah to the seasonal tropics roughly 10–20° on either side of the equator. The simple pattern is complicated by the effects of altitude, so that in each latitudinal vegetation zone there are found vegetation types more characteristic of latitudes nearer the poles.