Grasslands of the alpine and subalpine levels of the Alps, Pyrenees, Cantabrian range, Jura, Central Massif and northern Apennines, with very fragmentary outposts in the great Hercynian ranges of middle Europe, Bayerischer Wald, Harz, Black Forest, Erz-Riesengebirge and in the Caledonian system of Britain; grasslands of the oro- and cryoro-Mediterranean levels (sensu Peinado Lorca and Rivas- Martinez,1987) or of the alti-Mediterranean level (sensu Ozenda, 1975, 1985) of the Iberian mountains, of the Apennines and of the Greek ranges.