List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)

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This list of ecoregions in the United States provides an overview of United States ecoregions designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). The CEC was established in 1994 by the member states of Canada, Mexico, and the United States to address regional environmental concerns under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC), the environmental side accord to the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). The Commission's 1997 report, Ecological Regions of North America, provides a framework that may be used by government agencies, non-governmental organizations, and academic researchers as a basis for risk analysis, resource management, and environmental study of the continent's ecosystems. [1] In the United States, the EPA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are the principal federal agencies working with the CEC to define and map ecoregions. Ecoregions may be identified by similarities in geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife distributions, and hydrology.

Contents

The classification system has four levels, but only Levels I and III are on this list. Level I divides North America into 15 broad ecoregions; of these, 12 lie partly or wholly within the United States. Fifty Level II regions were created to allow for a narrower delineation of Level I areas. Three level I areas were not subdivided for level 2. [2] Level III subdivides the continent into 182 smaller ecoregions; of these, 104 lie partly or wholly with the United States. [1] [3] Level IV is a further subdivision of Level III ecoregions. Level IV mapping is still underway but is complete across most of the United States. For an example of Level IV data, see List of ecoregions in Oregon and the associated articles. The classification system excludes the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is not part of the North American continent.

Ecoregions in the United States

Level III ecoregions in the contiguous United States. Alaska ecoregions (102-120) not shown. Level III ecoregions, United States.png
Level III ecoregions in the contiguous United States. Alaska ecoregions (102-120) not shown.

Marine West Coast Forest

The corresponding CEC ecoregion in Canada is called the Pacific Maritime Ecozone.

Western Forested Mountains

The corresponding CEC ecoregion in Canada is called the Montane Cordillera Ecozone.

Mediterranean California

North American Deserts

Some of the deserts and plains AZ NM ecoregions.gif
Some of the deserts and plains

Temperate Sierras

Great Plains

The corresponding name in Canada for the same ecoregion is the Prairies Ecozone.

Eastern Temperate Forest

These forests stretch from the Southern Appalachians towards Canada, up to the northern Midwest. For a general description of these forests, refer to Temperate Deciduous Forest. The standard reference is The Deciduous Forest of Eastern North America. [4] The adjoining forests in Canada are generally referred to as the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone or the Great Lakes-St.Lawrence Forest Region.

Northern Forests

The corresponding name in Canada for the same ecoregions are the Boreal Shield and the Atlantic Maritime Ecozones.

Tropical Wet Forests

Southern Semi-Arid Highlands

Taiga

Temperate coniferous forest

Tundra

Listings by state

See also

Related Research Articles

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The Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands, or simply St. Lawrence Lowlands, is a physiographic region of Eastern Canada that comprises a section of southern Ontario bounded on the north by the Canadian Shield and by three of the Great Lakes — Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario — and extends along the St. Lawrence River to the Strait of Belle Isle and the Atlantic Ocean. The lowlands comprise three sub-regions that were created by intrusions from adjacent physiographic regions — the West Lowland, Central Lowland and East Lowland. The West Lowland includes the Niagara Escarpment, extending from the Niagara River to the Bruce Peninsula and Manitoulin Island. The Central Lowland stretches between the Ottawa River and the St. Lawrence River. The East Lowland includes Anticosti Island, Îles de Mingan, and extends to the Strait of Belle Isle.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montane Cordillera</span> Ecozone in south-central British Columbia

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atlantic Maritime Ecozone</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cascades (ecoregion)</span> Temperate coniferous forests ecoregion of the United States

The Cascades ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Washington, Oregon, and California. Somewhat smaller than the Cascade mountain range for which it is named, the ecoregion extends north to Snoqualmie Pass, near Seattle, and south to Hayden Pass, near the Oregon-California border, including the peaks and western slopes of most of the High Cascades. A discontiguous section is located on Mount Shasta in California.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allegheny Highlands forests</span> Temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion of the United States

The Allegheny Highlands forests are a temperate broadleaf and mixed forests ecoregion located in a large part of the Allegheny Plateau physiographic province, including both unglaciated and glaciated portions, in Pennsylvania and New York within North America, as defined by the World Wildlife Fund. The United States EPA defines the area as belonging to the Northern Central Appalachians and Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands ecoregions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands (ecoregion)</span>

The Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands region extends along the south shores of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River to Lake Champlain, and south down the Hudson River. It is primarily within the state of New York, with smaller portions in Vermont, Pennsylvania, and Ohio. In the north it meets the Mixedwood Plains Ecozone of Canada in eastern Ontario and southern Quebec. It is mostly temperate deciduous forest and agricultural land.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forests of Canada</span>

The forests of Canada are located across much of the country. Approximately half of Canada is covered by forest, totaling around 2.4 million km2. Over 90% of Canada's forests are owned by the public. About half of the forests are allocated for logging.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Hudson Bay taiga</span> Taiga ecoregion of Canada

The Southern Hudson Bay taiga is a terrestrial ecoregion, as classified by the World Wildlife Fund, which extends along the southern coast of Hudson Bay and resides within the larger taiga biome. The region is nearly coterminous with the Hudson Plain, a Level I ecoregion of North America as designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) in its North American Environmental Atlas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northeastern Highlands (ecoregion)</span>

The Northeastern Highlands Ecoregion is a Level III ecoregion designated by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in the U.S. states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The ecoregion extends from the northern tip of Maine and runs south along the Appalachian Mountain Range into eastern Pennsylvania. Discontiguous sections are located among New York's Adirondack Mountains, Catskill Range, and Tug Hill. The largest portion of the Northeastern Highlands ecoregion includes several sub mountain ranges, including the Berkshires, Green Mountains, Taconic, and White Mountains.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ecological Regions of North America: Toward a Common Perspective" (PDF). Commission for Environmental Cooperation. 1997. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-01-09. Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  2. "Western Ecology Division". US EPA. Retrieved 2015-05-31.
  3. "Ecoregion Maps and GIS Resources". United States Environmental Protection Agency . Retrieved 2008-04-10.
  4. Braun, E. L. 1950. The Deciduous Forest of Eastern North America. New York: Hafner.