Because hunter-gathers have fared poorly in comparison with their agricultural cousins, their numbers have dwindled, and they have been forced to live in marginal environments such as deserts, forests, or arctic wastelands. In higher latitudes, the shorter growing season has restricted the availability of plant life. Such condition have caused a greater dependence on hunting and, along the coasts and waterways, on fishing. The abundance of vegetation in the lower latitudes of tropics, on the other hand, has provide a greater opportunity for gathering a variety of plants. In short, the environmental differences have restricted the diet and have limited possibilities for the development of subsistence societies.