Pollen data frome Lake Teletskoye, Altai Mountains, south-eastern West Siberia, Russia, with age-depth model

The altitude of the mountains surrounding the lake is 1900 m a.s.l. on average. Due to higher annual precipitation at the area, the steppe belt is absencent but it occurs, at least fragmentarily, in other parts of the mountains.

Only very small patches along the lakeshore represent steppe-like vegetation. Birch forests mixed with meadows occur at lower altitudes, up to 700 m a.s.l. Unique evergreen (so-called 'dark') coniferous forest grow between 700 and 1700ma.s.l.