Level III Ecoregions of the Continental United States

1 Level III Ecoregions of the Continental United States 1. Coast Range (Revised April 2013). 2. Puget Lowland national Health and Environmental Effects Research laboratory 3. Willamette Valley Environmental Protection Agency 4. Cascades 77. 77. 1 Seattle 5. Sierra Nevada 6. Central California Foothills 2. Olympia and Coastal Mountains 15 41. 7. Central California Valley 42. 8. Southern California Mountains 10. Portland 49. 9. Eastern Cascades Slopes and 17 48. 82. Foothills Salem 10 Helena 17. 1 17. 10. Columbia Plateau 3. Bismarck Augusta 11. Blue Mountains 4 17. 11. 12. Snake River Plain Montpelier 16 17. 13. Central Basin and Range 43 50. 17 58. 14. Mojave Basin and Range 58 Concord 51. 15. Northern Rockies Boise Saint 51 50. 9 46 Minneapolis Paul 58 59. 16. Idaho Batholith 17 Boston 83 Albany 17. Middle Rockies Pierre Rochester 59. 78 12 17 Providence 84. Buffalo 18. Wyoming Basin 80 53 57 Hartford 60 58. 19.

2 Wasatch and Uinta Mountains 52. 4 42 Madison Lansing 20. Colorado Plateaus Milwaukee Detroit 62 84. 21. Southern Rockies 62 Newark 59. 22. Arizona/New Mexico Plateau 18 56 New York 44 47 Toledo 61 Trenton Chicago Cleveland 23. Arizona/New Mexico Mountains Salt Lake 57. City Des Moines Akron Harrisburg Philadelphia 24. Chihuahuan Deserts Carson Cheyenne Pittsburgh 64. Sacramento City 19 Omaha 69. 84. 25. High Plains 13 54 55 Baltimore Dover 26. Southwestern Tablelands Lincoln San Columbus Francisco Annapolis 27. Central Great Plains 5 70 Washington DC 63. 25 Indianapolis Denver 57. Huron/Erie Lake Plains 28. Flint Hills 1 San 40 Springfield Jose 7 21. 20 27 Cincinnati 58. Northeastern Highlands 29. Cross Timbers 30. Edwards Plateau Colorado Springs Kansas City Charleston 67 59. Northeastern Coastal Zone Fresno Topeka 66 Richmond 31. Southern Texas Plains Jefferson 72 Frankfort 60. Northern Allegheny Plateau 6 City Saint Louis Louisville Lexington 69.

3 32. Texas Blackland Prairies 61. Erie Drift Plain 28 Norfolk 33. East Central Texas Plains 40 62. North Central Appalachians Wichita 34. Western Gulf Coastal Plain 71 63. Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain 23. 35. South Central Plains 39 63 64. Northern Piedmont 14 Raleigh 36. Ouachita Mountains 8 65. Southeastern Plains 23 65. 37. Arkansas Valley Los 22 Nashville 66. Blue Ridge Angeles 25. Santa Fe Tulsa 68 66 Charlotte 67. Ridge and Valley 38. Boston Mountains Santa 23. 85 Ana 23 38 68. Southwestern Appalachians 39. Ozark Highlands 26 Oklahoma 85 Albuquerque 23 City Memphis 45. 40. Central Irregular Plains 37 69. Central Appalachians Columbia 41. Canadian Rockies San Little Rock 63 70. Western Allegheny Plateau Diego 81 Phoenix 23. 23 36 Atlanta 71. Interior Plateau 42. Northwestern Glaciated Plains Mesa 43. Northwestern Great Plains Birmingham 72. Interior River Valleys and Hills 73. 44. Nebraska Sand Hills 73.

4 Mississippi Alluvial Plain 23 25. 45. Piedmont Tucson 29 74. Mississippi Valley Loess Plains Dallas 74 Montgomery 75. Southern Coastal Plain 46. Northern Glaciated Plains Fort Shreveport 79 Worth Jackson 47. Western Corn Belt Plains El Paso 76. Southern Florida Coastal Plain 30 65. 48. Lake Agassiz Plain 32 77. North Cascades 35. 49. Northern Minnesota Wetlands 24 78. Klamath Mountains/California 50. Northern Lakes and Forests Tallahassee Jacksonville High North Coast Range Mobile 51. North Central Hardwood Forests 33 79. Madrean Archipelago Baton 75. 30 Rouge 80. Northern Basin and Range 52. Driftless Area Austin 32 New 81. Sonoran Basin and Range 53. Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains Houston Orleans 54. Central Corn Belt Plains San 82. Acadian Plains and Hills Antonio 75. 55. Eastern Corn Belt Plains 83. Eastern Great Lakes Lowlands 31 34. 56. Southern Michigan/Northern Tampa 84. Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens Indiana Drift Plains 85.

5 Southern California/Northern Baja Coast 0 100 200 300 400 Mi Corpus Christi 0 200 400 600 Km 76. Miami Scale 1:7,500,000. 101. Albers Equal Area Projection 102. 103. 107 Ecoregions are areas where ecosystems (and the type, quality , and quantity of environmental resources) are generally Commission for Environmental Cooperation. 2006. Ecological regions of North America levels I, II, and III: Montreal, Quebec, 104 similar. This ecoregion framework is derived from Omernik (1987) and from mapping done in collaboration with Canada, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, scale 1:10,000,000, 110. 108 CANADA EPA regional offices, other Federal agencies, state resource management agencies, and neighboring North American Gallant, , Whittier, Larsen, Omernik, and Hughes. 1989. Regionalization as a tool for managing countries (Omernik and Griffith 2014). Designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, and environmental resources.

6 EPA/600/3-89/060. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research laboratory , 106 105 monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components, Ecoregions denote areas of similarity in the mosaic of biotic, Corvallis, OR. 152p. 106 abiotic, terrestrial, and aquatic ecosystem components, with humans considered as part of the biota. These Ecoregions Gallant, , Binnian, Omernik, and Shasby. 1995. Ecoregions of Alaska. geological survey Professional 116 have been used to develop regional biological criteria and water quality standards, set management goals for nonpoint Paper 1567. Government Printing Office, Washington 73 p. source pollution, assess land cover trends, report on ecosystem carbon sequestration, and frame wildlife conservation Griffith, , Bryce, Omernik, Comstock, Rogers, B. Harrison, Hatch, and D. Bezanson. 2004. Ecoregions 117 research, among other applications. of Texas. (map poster). geological survey , Reston, VA.

7 Scale 1:2,500,000. 109 115 118 Griffith, , Omernik, Bryce, J. Royte, Hoar, Homer, D. Keirstead, Metzler, and G. Hellyer. 2009. Ecological regions can be identified by analyzing the patterns and composition of biotic and abiotic phenomena that Ecoregions of New England (map poster). geological survey , Reston, VA. Scale 1:1,325,000. 104 119 affect or reflect differences in ecosystem quality and integrity (Omernik 1987, 1995). These phenomena include geology, 111 Griffith, , Omernik, Johnson, and Turner. 2014. Ecoregions of Arizona (map poster). geological survey physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic Open-File Report 2014-1141, map scale 1:1,325,000, 112 Juneau varies from one ecological region to another regardless of the hierarchical Level . A Roman numeral classification scheme McGrath, , Woods, Omernik, Bryce, M. Edmondson, Nesser, J.

8 Shelden, Crawford, Comstock, and 113 has been adopted for different levels of ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest Level , dividing North America into 15 Plocher. 2002. Ecoregions of Idaho (map poster). geological survey , Reston, VA. Scale 1:1,350,000. ecological regions; at Level II the continent is subdivided into 50 classes (CEC 1997, 2006). Level III, shown here, has Omernik, 1987. Ecoregions of the conterminous United States . Map (scale 1:7,500,000). Annals of the Association of American 0 100 200 300 400 Mi 105 Ecoregions in the Continental For the conterminous United States , the Ecoregions have been further subdivided Geographers 77(1):118-125. 3. 11 to 967 Level IV Ecoregions . Details about the Ecoregions or their applications are explained in reports and publications from 0 200 400 600 Km Omernik, 1995. Ecoregions : A spatial framework for environmental management. In: Biological Assessment and Criteria: Tools the state and regional projects ( , Bryce et al.)

9 , 1998, 2003; Chapman et al., 2001, 2006; Gallant et al., 1989, 1995; Griffith for water Resource Planning and Decision Making. Davis, and Simon (eds.) Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL. Pp. 49-62. Scale 1:16,000,000 120 et al., 2004, 2009, 2014; McGrath et al., 2002; Omernik, 2004; Omernik et al., 2000; Thorson et al., 2003; Wiken et al., Albers Equal Area Projection Omernik, 2004. Perspectives on the nature and definition of ecological regions. Environmental Management 34 (Suppl. 1): S27-S38. 114 2011; and Woods et al., 1996, 2002, 2004). For additional information, contact James M. Omernik, USGS, c/o EPA, Omernik, , Chapman, Lillie, and Dumke. 2000. Ecoregions of Wisconsin. Transactions of the Wisconsin 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, phone (541) 754-4458, email or Glenn Griffith, Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters 88:77-103. USGS, c/o US EPA, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, phone (541) 754-4465, email Omernik, and Griffith.

10 2014. Ecoregions of the conterminous United States : evolution of a hierarchical spatial framework. REFERENCES CITED Environmental Management 54(6):1249-1266, 101. Arctic Coastal Plain 111. Ahklun and Kilbuck Mountains Bryce, , Omernik, Pater, M. Ulmer, J. Schaar, J. Freeouf, R. Johnson, P. Kuck, and Azevedo. 1998. Ecoregions Thorson, , Bryce, Lammers, Woods, Omernik, J. Kagan, Pater, and Comstock. 2003. Ecoregions of 102. Arctic Foothills 112. Bristol Bay-Nushagak Lowlands of North Dakota and South Dakota (map poster). geological survey , Reston, VA. Scale 1:1,500,000. Oregon (map poster). geological survey , Reston, VA. Scale 1:1,350,000. 103. Brooks Range 113. Alaska Peninsula Mountains Bryce, , Woods, Morefield, Omernik, McKay, Brackley, Hall, Higgins, McMorran, Wiken, E., Jim nez Nava, F., and Griffith, G. 2011. North American Terrestrial Ecoregions - Level III. Commission for Environmental 104. Interior Forested Lowlands and Uplands 114.