Regions on the earth's surface where soils are dominating the ecosystems with little to no plant cover are often referred to as Barren. These places are areas like deserts, Polar Regions, areas of high elevation, and zones of glacier retreat. For barren zones that are situated in mountain ranges, they are often called the Subnival Zone, and are found at elevations between the upper limit of the vegetation zone and the lower limit of the ice covered zone. Subnival zones in places like the Rockies, Andes and Himalayas have increased greatly in the past few years due to the retreat of high elevation glaciers and the ice caps.