Analysis of the contents and organization of pigments in leaves of more than 60 plant species from different natural habitats revealed that the majority of plants from extreme regions had a low pigment content. The arctic plants contained 40-60 % less chlorophyll (Chl) than the same species in the temperate zone. The desert plants had an extremely low pigment content. Owing to high amount of total carotenoids (Car), the arctic and high montane plants had the lowest ratios Chl/Car. The part of Chl belonging to light-harvesting (LH)-antenna varied less than the total amounts. The majority of investigated arctic plants had a smaller amount of Chl and larger part of it in the LH-antenna than plants of the temperate zone. The pigment apparatus of high montane plants was distinguished by very high Car content probably serving as protectant against photodamage: in their photosystems 1 and 2 there was 4-5 times more p-carotene than in the plants of other zones.