But in North America and Russia it refers to two different natural patterns of forest growth caused by features of the local soil and climate history.
In North America, the term "Ribbon forest" is used to describe a unique habitat type found near the tree line in the subalpine zone of the Rocky Mountains.
Areas that have this habitat type include the southern Mount Zirkel Wilderness and the Medicine Bow Mountains.
The area between Mad Creek and Buffalo Pass in the southern Park Range has Colorado's highest amount of snowfall, averaging 25 to 30 feet per winter.
The outcroppings of pine (mostly Pinus sibirica) grow on bands of sandy soil left behind by glaciers that retreated at the end of the last ice age.