Country

Switzerland: 3 ecoregions. Each with its climate now and toward 2050, and its conservation tier.

Switzerland resolves into three ecoregions stacked by elevation and aspect. Western European broadleaf forests cover the Plateau and Jura, the country's mild, humid lowland heart; Alps conifer and mixed forests take the entire high country, where spruce, fir, and larch give way to alpine conditions; and south of the main crest, Ticino belongs to the Po Basin mixed forests, a warmer, Insubrian-flavored unit rated Nature Imperiled. Climate therefore runs from temperate oceanic-continental in the lowlands to genuinely alpine within short distances, with the sunniest, mildest growing conditions south of the Alps. For gardeners the practical rule is altitude: broadleaf-forest species on the Plateau, hardy conifer-zone plants in mountain valleys, and near-Mediterranean latitude in Ticino's lake basins.