Due to the huge size of the country, Australia has serveral different climate zones. The northern section of Australia has a more tropical influenced climate, hot and humid in the summer, and quite warm and dry in the winter, while the southern parts are cooler with mild summers and cool, sometimes rainy winters. The main vegetation types in Australia (in simplified terms) are forest, rainforest, grassland and desert. Different types of trees, shrubs and grasses grow within each of these vegetation types and are specially adapted to the soil, rainfall and temperature in each area.