Bioclimatic belts of West Europe (Relations between bioclimate and plant ecosystems)

The bioclimatic belts are primarily each one of the thermoclimatic spaces delimited by bioindicators, recognizable in the terrestrial environment in altitudinal or latitudinal zonation. Such thermoclimatic spaces are delimited on determined values of the thermicity index or thermotypes (thermo, meso, supra, etc); in each of these, with respect to precipitation, diverse rainfall types or ombric variants (arid, semiarid, dry,...) are recognized. In western Europe, fifteen bioclimatic belts (thermotypes) are accepted