Intrazonal Vegetation

a type of vegetation that is included in the zonal vegetation but does not form an independent zone.

In contrast to azonal vegetation, which is encountered in all zones (bottomland meadows, sand, stony outcroppings), intrazonal vegetation is closely associated with particular zones. Examples of intrazonal vegetation include solonets and solonchak vegetation in the steppe and desert zones and sphagnum bogs in the forest and tundra zones. In moving from one zone to another the intrazonal vegetation changes, bearing the imprint of the respective zone and occupying usually small areas in it. Sometimes the intrazonal vegetation in certain areas predominates over the zonal vegetation. Thus, in the forest zone of the Western Siberian Plain, swamp vegetation prevails in some areas, and forests, which are zonal for these areas, are encountered only in small areas on elevations.