Ecoregions of Louisiana - Ecological Regions34 Western Gulf Coastal Plain 34a Northern Humid Gulf...
Transcript of Ecoregions of Louisiana - Ecological Regions34 Western Gulf Coastal Plain 34a Northern Humid Gulf...
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Jackson
Abbeville
Alexandria
Amite
Bastrop
Bay Saint Louis
Cameron
Canton
Covington
Crowley
DeRidder
Morgan City
Gulfport
Hattiesburg
Houma
Jasper
Jennings LafayetteLake Charles
Lake Providence
Laurel
Leesville
Hammond
McComb
Mansfield
Marksville
Minden
Monroe
Natchez
Natchitoches
New Iberia New Orleans
New Roads
Opelousas
Beaumont
Philadelphia
Plaquemine
Port Allen
Ruston
Saint Francisville
Shreveport
Tallulah
Thibodaux
Vicksburg
VillePlatte
Winnfield
Winnsboro
Yazoo City
Eunice
Bogalusa
Biloxi
Slidell
Grand Isle
Crossett
Port Arthur
Oakdale
G U L F O F M E X I C O
LakePontchartrain
LakeMaurepas
LakeBorgne
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94˚ 93˚ 92˚ 91˚ 90˚ 89˚
94˚ 93˚ 92˚ 91˚ 90˚ 89˚
29˚
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33˚
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33˚
SCALE 1:1 000 000
Albers Equal Area ProjectionStandard Parallels 30˚ N and 32˚ N
15 30 mi0
30 60 km0
51015
102030
Level III ecoregionLevel IV ecoregionParish boundaryState boundary
34 Western Gulf Coastal Plain34a Northern Humid Gulf Coastal Prairies34c Floodplains and Low Terraces34g Texas-Louisiana Coastal Marshes34j Lafayette Loess Plains
35 South Central Plains35a Tertiary Uplands35b Floodplains and Low Terraces35c Pleistocene Fluvial Terraces35e Southern Tertiary Uplands35f Flatwoods35g Red River Bottomlands
65 Southeastern Plains65f Southern Pine Plains and Hills65p Southeastern Floodplains and Low Terraces
73 Mississippi Alluvial Plain73a Northern Holocene Meander Belts73d Northern Backswamps73h Arkansas/Ouachita River Holocene Meander Belts73i Arkansas/Ouachita River Backswamps73j Macon Ridge73k Southern Holocene Meander Belts73l Southern Pleistocene Valley Trains73mSouthern Backswamps73n Inland Swamps73o Deltaic Coastal Marshes and Barrier Islands
74 Mississippi Valley Loess Plains74a Bluff Hills74c Southern Rolling Plains74d Baton Rouge Terrace
75 Southern Coastal Plain75a Gulf Coast Flatwoods75i Floodplains and Low Terraces 75k Gulf Barrier Islands and Coastal Marshes
PRINCIPAL AUTHORS: Jerry J. Daigle (NRCS), Glenn E. Griffith (Dynamac Corporation), James M. Omernik (USGS), Patricia L. Faulkner (LNHP-LDWF), Richard P. McCulloh (LGS), Lawrence R. Handley (USGS-National Wetlands Research Center [NWRC]), Latimore M. Smith (The Nature Conservancy), and Shannen S. Chapman (Dynamac Corporation).
COLLABORATORS AND CONTRIBUTORS: Bradley Spicer (LDAF), Sue Smith (LDEQ), Paul Heinrich (LGS), John Novosad (USFS), Bill Vermillion (USFWS), Charles Demas (USGS), Dennis Demcheck (USGS), C. Edward Proffitt (USGS-NWRC), Philip Crocker (USEPA), Barbara Kleiss (USACE, ERDC-Waterways Experiment Station), Jan Boydston (LDEQ), Alan Woods (Oregon State University), Pat O'Neil (USGS), Brian Moran (Indus Corporation), John Hutchinson (Science Applications International Corporation), Jack Wittmann (USGS), and Tom Loveland (USGS).
REVIEWERS: Martin Floyd (NRCS), Anthony Lewis (Louisiana State University), and Chris Reid (LNHP-LDWF).
CITING THIS MAP: Daigle, J.J., Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., Faulkner, P.L., McCulloh, R.P., Handley, L.R., Smith, L.M., and Chapman, S.S., 2006, Ecoregions of Louisiana (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs): Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey (map scale 1:1,000,000).
Electronic versions of ecoregion maps and posters as well as other ecoregion resources are available at http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions.htm.
Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. By recognizing the spatial differences in the capacities and potentials of ecosystems, ecoregions stratify the environment by its probable response to disturbance.
Ecoregions are general purpose regions that are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations responsible for different types of resources in the same geographical areas. The approach used to compile the ecoregion map of Louisiana is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of the spatial patterns and the composition of biotic and abiotic characteristics that affect or reflect differences in ecosystem quality and integrity. These characteristics include geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another regardless of ecoregion hierarchical level.
Louisiana contains barrier islands and coastal lowlands, large river floodplains, rolling and hilly coastal plains with evergreen and deciduous forests, and a variety of aquatic habitats. There are 6 level III ecoregions and 28 level IV ecoregions, and most of these continue into ecologically similar parts of adjacent states.
This ecoregion map was compiled at a scale of 1:250,000, and depicts revisions and subdivisions of earlier level III ecoregions that were originally compiled at a smaller scale. It is part of a collaborative project primarily between USEPA–National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (Corvallis, Oregon), U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), U.S. Department of Agriculture–Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), Louisiana Natural Heritage Program (LNHP) within the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF), Louisiana Geological Survey (LGS), and Louisiana Department of Environmental Quality (LDEQ). Collaboration and consultation also occurred with the Louisiana Department of Agriculture and Forestry (LDAF), Louisiana Department of Natural Resources, U.S. Department of Agriculture–Forest Service (USFS), U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and USGS–Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science. This project is associated with an interagency effort to develop a common framework of ecological regions. Reaching that objective requires recognition of the differences in the conceptual approaches and mapping methodologies applied to develop the most common ecoregion-type frameworks, including those developed by the USFS, the USEPA, and the NRCS. As each of these frameworks is further refined, their differences are becoming less discernible. Each collaborative ecoregion project, such as this one in Louisiana, is a step toward attaining consensus and consistency in ecoregion frameworks for the entire nation.
E c o r e g i o n s o f L o u i s i a n a
LA_eco_06fnl.ai 06/12/06