This alliance includes subalpine vegetation dominated by deciduous shrubs or low trees such as Betula carpatica, Salix silesiaca and Sorbus spp. It is distributed in the Hercynian mountain ranges of Central Europe and the Western Carpathians, and correspond to the subalpine scrub with Alnus alnobetula of the Alps and Southern Carpathians. This vegetation usually develops on avalanche tracks in glacial cirques, however in places with less frequent avalanches than is the case for Calamagrostis arundinacea or C. villosa grasslands. Species composition of the herb layer is very similar to that of other alliances of the class Mulgedio-Aconitetea. There is a continuum spanning from tall grasslands through tall grasslands with scattered shrubs to close-canopy shrubberies. We therefore classify this alliance within the class Mulgedio-Aconitetea, although there have been alternative suggestions emphasizing vegetation physiognomy and classifying subalpine dediduous shrubberies as a separate class – Betulo carpaticae-Alnetea viridis.