Ecoregions of Georgia · 2016-05-07 · Bruce Pruitt (USEPA), Patti Lanford (GA DNR), Dave Melgaard...

PRINCIPAL AUTHORS: Glenn E. Griffith (NRCS), James M. Omernik (USEPA), Jeffrey A. Comstock (Indus Corporation), Steve Lawrence (NRCS), and Trish Foster (Mantech Inc.).

COLLABORATORS AND CONTRIBUTORS: Hoke Howard (USEPA), Jim Harrison (USEPA), Bruce Pruitt (USEPA), Patti Lanford (GA DNR), Dave Melgaard (USEPA), Tom Loveland (USGS), Shannon Winsness (GA DNR), Bill Kennedy (GA DNR), Becky Blasius (GA DNR), Kristen Sanford (GA DNR), Dick Rightmyer (USFS), and Ron Stephens (USFS).

REVIEWERS: Burchard Carter (Georgia Southwestern State Univ.), Pat O'Neil (Geological Survey of AL), Cliff Webber (Auburn Univ.), and Larry West (Univ. of GA).

CITING THIS MAP: Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., Comstock, J.A., Lawrence, and Foster, T., 2001, Ecoregions of Georgia: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (map scale 1:1,500,000).

To obtain additional copies of this map, the accompanying table of ecoregion characteristics, GIS coverages, or more information about Georgia or U.S. ecoregions, contact Glenn Griffith, USDA-NRCS, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, phone (541)754-4465, email griffith.glenn@epa.gov, or see http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions/ecoregions.htm.

This project was partially supported by funds from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources through grants provided by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region IV under the provisions of Section 319(h) of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act .

Level III Ecoregions of the Conterminous United States

Map source: USEPA, 2000

2 77

1

1

4

9

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1117

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18 47

535217

5756 62

13

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1 Coast Range 2 Puget Lowland 3 Willamette Valley 4 Cascades 5 Sierra Nevada 6 Southern and Central California Chaparral and Oak Woodlands 7 Central California Valley 8 Southern California Mountains 9 Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills10 Columbia Plateau11 Blue Mountains12 Snake River Plain13 Central Basin and Range14 Mojave Basin and Range15 Northern Rockies16 Idaho Batholith17 Middle Rockies18 Wyoming Basin19 Wasatch and Uinta Mountains20 Colorado Plateaus21 Southern Rockies22 Arizona/New Mexico Plateau23 Arizona/New Mexico Mountains24 Chihuahuan Deserts25 Western High Plains26 Southwestern Tablelands27 Central Great Plains28 Flint Hills

29 Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains30 Edwards Plateau31 Southern Texas Plains32 Texas Blackland Prairies33 East Central Texas Plains34 Western Gulf Coastal Plain35 South Central Plains36 Ouachita Mountains37 Arkansas Valley38 Boston Mountains39 Ozark Highlands40 Central Irregular Plains41 Canadian Rockies42 Northwestern Glaciated Plains43 Northwestern Great Plains44 Nebraska Sand Hills45 Piedmont46 Northern Glaciated Plains47 Western Corn Belt Plains48 Lake Agassiz Plain49 Northern Minnesota Wetlands50 Northern Lakes and Forests51 North Central Hardwood Forests52 Driftless Area53 Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains54 Central Corn Belt Plains55 Eastern Corn Belt Plains56 Southern Michigan/Northern Indiana Drift Plains

57 Huron/Erie Lake Plains58 Northeastern Highlands59 Northeastern Coastal Zone60 Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands61 Erie Drift Plain62 North Central Appalachians63 Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain64 Northern Piedmont65 Southeastern Plains66 Blue Ridge67 Ridge and Valley68 Southwestern Appalachians69 Central Appalachians70 Western Allegheny Plateau71 Interior Plateau72 Interior River Lowland73 Mississippi Alluvial Plain74 Mississippi Valley Loess Plains75 Southern Coastal Plain76 Southern Florida Coastal Plain77 North Cascades78 Klamath Mountains79 Madrean Archipelago80 Northern Basin and Range81 Sonoran Basin and Range82 Laurentian Plains and Hills83 Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands84 Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens

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RussellLake

HartwellLake

LakeSinclair

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LakeSeminole

Savannah River

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Altamaha River

Ocmu lgee River

Oconee R

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Flint R

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85° 84° 83° 82° 81°

85° 84° 83° 82° 81°

31°

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31°

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35°

Atlanta

Columbus

Dothan

Troy

Gainesville

Athens

Augusta

Brunswick

Vidalia

Statesboro

Macon

Rome

Savannah

Valdosta

Tifton

Waycross

Albany

Chattanooga

Tallahassee

Charlotte

Jacksonville

Columbia

Greenville

La Grange

Anniston

Hinesville

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66j66j

66g

67i

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67g67h

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GE

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SOU

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TENNESSEE NORTH CAROLINA

Level III ecoregionLevel IV ecoregionState boundaryCounty boundary

45 Piedmont45a Southern Inner Piedmont45b Southern Outer Piedmont45c Carolina Slate Belt45d Talladega Upland45h Pine Mountain Ridges

65 Southeastern Plains65c Sand Hills65d Southern Hilly Gulf Coastal Plain65g Dougherty Plain65h Tifton Upland65k Coastal Plain Red Uplands65l Atlantic Southern Loam Plains65o Tallahassee Hills/Valdosta Limesink65p Southeastern Floodplains and Low Terraces

75 Southern Coastal Plain75e Okefenokee Plains75f Sea Island Flatwoods75g Okefenokee Swamp75h Bacon Terraces75i Floodplains and Low Terraces75j Sea Islands/Coastal Marsh

66 Blue Ridge66d Southern Crystalline Ridges and Mountains66g Southern Metasedimentary Mountains66j Broad Basins

67 Ridge and Valley67f Southern Limestone/Dolomite Valleys and Low Rolling Hills67g Southern Shale Valleys67h Southern Sandstone Ridges67i Southern Dissected Ridges and Knobs

68 Southwestern Appalachians68c Plateau Escarpment68d Southern Table Plateaus

SCALE 1:1 500 000

Albers Equal Area ProjectionStandard parallels 31° N and 34° N

30 60 mi0

60 120 km0

51015

102030

Literature Cited:

Bailey, R.G., Avers, P.E., King, T., and McNab, W.H., eds., 1994, Ecoregions and subregions of the United States (map) (supplementary table of map unit descriptions compiled and edited by McNab, W.H. and Bailey, R.G.): Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Agriculture-Forest Service, scale 1:7,500,000.

Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997, Ecological regions of North America - toward a common perspective: Montreal, Quebec, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 71 p.

Gallant, A.L., Whittier, T.R., Larsen, D.P., Omernik, J.M., and Hughes, R.M., 1989, Regionalization as a tool for managing environmental resources: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA/600/3-89/060, 152 p.

Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., Comstock, J.A., Lawrence, S., Martin, G., Goddard, A., Hulcher, V.J., and Foster, T., 2001, Ecoregions of Alabama and Georgia, (2 sided color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs): Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey, scale 1:1,700,000.

Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., Comstock, and Foster, T., 2001, Ecoregions of Georgia: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 48 p.

McMahon, G., Gregonis, S.M., Waltman, S.W., Omernik, J.M., Thorson, T.D., Freeouf, J.A., Rorick, A.H., and Keys, J.E., 2001, Developing a spatial framework of common ecological regions for the conterminous United States: Environmental Management, v. 28, no. 3, p. 293-316.

Omernik, J.M., 1987, Ecoregions of the conterminous United States (map supplement): Annals of the Association of American Geographers, v. 77, no. 1, p. 118-125, scale 1:7,500,000.

Omernik, J.M., 1995, Ecoregions - a framework for environmental management, in Davis, W.S. and Simon, T.P., eds., Biological assessment and criteria-tools for water resource planning and decision making: Boca Raton, Florida, Lewis Publishers, p. 49-62.

Omernik, J.M., Chapman, S.S., Lillie, R.A., and Dumke, R.T., 2000, Ecoregions of Wisconsin: Transactions of the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters, v. 88, no. 2000, p. 77-103.

U.S. Department of Agriculture-Soil Conservation Service, 1981, Land resource regions and major land resource areas of the United States: Agriculture Handbook 296, 156 p.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000, Level III ecoregions of the continental United States (revision of Omernik, 1987): Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Map M-1, various scales.

Wiken, E., 1986, Terrestrial ecozones of Canada: Ottawa, Environment Canada, Ecological Land Classification Series no. 19, 26 p.

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. Ecoregions are directly applicable to the immediate needs of state agencies, including the development of biological criteria and water quality standards and the establishment of management goals for nonpoint-source pollution. They are also relevant to integrated ecosystem management, an ultimate goal of many federal and state resource management agencies.

The approach used to compile this map 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 phenomena that affect or reflect differences in ecosystem quality and integrity (Wiken 1986; Omernik 1987, 1995). These phenomena 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 the hierarchical level. A Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels of ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group 1997). At level III, the continental United States contains 104 ecoregions and the conterminous United States has 84 ecoregions (United States Environmental Protection Agency [USEPA] 2000). Level IV is a further subdivision of level III ecoregions. Explanations of the methods used to define the USEPA’s ecoregions are given in Omernik (1995), Omernik and others (2000), Griffith and others (2001) and Gallant and others (1989).

Georgia contains barrier islands and coastal lowlands, large river floodplain forests, rolling plains and plateaus, forested mountains, and a variety of aquatic habitats. Ecological and biological diversity is enormous. There are 6 level III ecoregions and 28 level IV ecoregions in Georgia and most continue into ecologically similar parts of adjacent states.

The level III and IV 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 (USEPA 2000; Omernik 1987). This poster is part of a collaborative project primarily between USEPA Region IV, USEPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (Corvallis, Oregon), Georgia Department of Natural Resources (GA DNR), and the United States Department of Agriculture-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS). Collaboration and consultation also occured with the United States Department of Agriculture-Forest Service (USFS), United States Department of the Interior-Geological Survey (USGS)-Earth Resources Observation Systems (EROS) Data Center, and with other State of Georgia agencies.

The project is associated with an interagency effort to develop a common framework of ecological regions (McMahon and others, 2001). 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 (Bailey and others, 1994), the USEPA (Omernik 1987, 1995), and the NRCS (U.S. Department of Agriculture-Soil Conservation Service, 1981). As each of these frameworks is further refined, their differences are becoming less discernible. A regional collaborative project such as this one in Georgia, where some agreement has been reached among multiple resource management agencies, is a step toward attaining consensus and consistency in ecoregion frameworks for the entire nation.

Ecoregions of Georgia