List of ecoregions in North America (CEC)

This list of ecoregions of North America provides an overview of North American ecoregions designated by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC). It should not be confused with Wikipedia articles based on the classification system developed by the World Wildlife Fund, such as List of ecoregions (WWF) and Lists of ecoregions by country.

The Commission 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.cite web | publisher=Commission for Environmental Cooperation | title=Ecological Regions of North America: Toward a Common Perspective | url=http://www.cec.org/files/PDF/BIODIVERSITY/eco-eng_EN.pdf | date=1997 | accessdate=2008-04-10] Ecoregions may be identified by similarities in geology, physiography, vegetation, climate soils, land use, wildlife distributions, and hydrology.

The classification system has four levels. Only the first three levels are shown on this list. Level I divides North America into 15 broad ecoregions. Level II subdivides the continent into 52 smaller ecoregions. Level III subdivides those regions again into 182 ecoregions. [cite web | title=Ecoregion Maps and GIS Resources | publisher=United States Environmental Protection Agency | url=http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions.htm | accessdate=2008-04-10] 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.

Arctic Cordillera

Arctic Cordillera

*Ellesmere and Devon Islands Ice Caps (ecoregion)
*Baffin and Torngat Mountains (ecoregion)

Tundra

Northern Arctic

*Sverdrup Islands Lowland (ecoregion)
*Ellesmere Mountains and Eureka Hills (ecoregion)
*Parry Islands Plateau (ecoregion)
*Lancaster and Borden Peninsula Plateaus (ecoregion)
*Foxe Uplands (ecoregion)
*Baffin Uplands (ecoregion)
*Gulf of Boothia and Foxe Basin Plains (ecoregion)
*Victoria Island Lowlands (ecoregion)
*Banks Island and Amundsen Gulf Lowlands (ecoregion)

Alaska Tundra

*Arctic Coastal Plain (ecoregion)
*Arctic Foothills (ecoregion)
*Subarctic Coastal Plains (ecoregion)
*Seward Peninsula (ecoregion)
*Bristol Bay-Nushagak Lowlands (ecoregion)
*Aleutian Islands (ecoregion)

Brooks Range Tundra

*Brooks Range/Richardson Mountains (ecoregion)

outhern Arctic

*Amundsen Plains (ecoregion)
*Aberdeen Plains (ecoregion)
*Central Ungava Peninsula and Ottawa and Belcher Islands (ecoregion)
*Queen Maud Gulf and Chantrey Inlet Lowlands (ecoregion)

Taiga

Alaska Boreal Interior

*Interior Forested Lowlands and Uplands (ecoregion)
*Interior Bottomlands (ecoregion)
*Yukon Flats (ecoregion)

Taiga Cordillera

*Ogilvie Mountains (ecoregion)
*Mackenzie and Selwyn Mountains (ecoregion)
*Peel River and Nahanni Plateaus (ecoregion)

Taiga Plain

*Great Bear Plains (ecoregion)
*Hay and Slave River Lowlands (ecoregion)

Taiga Shield

*Kazan River and Selwyn Lake Uplands (ecoregion)
*La Grande Hills and New Quebec Central Plateau (ecoregion)
*Smallwood Uplands (ecoregion)
*Ungava Bay Basin and George Plateau (ecoregion)
*Coppermine River and Tazin Lake Uplands (ecoregion)

Hudson Plain

Hudson Plain

*Coastal Hudson Bay Lowland (ecoregion)
*Hudson Bay and James Bay Lowlands (ecoregion)

Northern Forests

oftwood Shield

*Athabasca Plain and Churchill River Upland (ecoregion)
*Lake Nipigon and Lac Seul Upland (ecoregion)
*Central Laurentians and Mecatina Plateau (ecoregion)
*Newfoundland Island (ecoregion)
*Hayes River Upland and Big Trout Lake (ecoregion)
*Abitibi Plains and Riviere Rupert Plateau (ecoregion)

Mixed Wood Shield

*Northern Lakes and Forests (ecoregion)
*Northern Minnesota Wetlands (ecoregion)
*Algonquin/Southern Laurentians (ecoregion)

Atlantic Highlands

*Northern Appalachian and Atlantic Maritime Highlands (ecoregion)
*North Central Appalachians (ecoregion)

Boreal Plain

*Mid-Boreal Uplands and Peace-Wabaska Lowlands (ecoregion)
*Clear Hills and Western Alberta Upland (ecoregion)
*Mid-Boreal Lowland and Interlake Plain (ecoregion)

Northwestern Forested Mountains

Boreal Cordillera

*Interior Highlands and Klondike Plateau (ecoregion)
*Alaska Range (ecoregion)
*Copper Plateau (ecoregion)
*Wrangell and St. Elias Mountains (ecoregion)
*Watson Highlands (ecoregion)
*Yukon-Stikine Highlands/Boreal Mountains and Plateaus (ecoregion)

Western Cordillera

*Skeena-Omineca-Central Canadian Rocky Mountains (ecoregion)
*Chilcotin Ranges and Fraser Plateau (ecoregion)
*Columbia Mountains/Northern Rockies (ecoregion)
*Canadian Rockies (ecoregion)
*North Cascades (ecoregion)
*Cypress Upland (ecoregion)
*Cascades (ecoregion)
*Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills (ecoregion)
*Blue Mountains (ecoregion)
*Middle Rockies (ecoregion)
*Klamath Mountains (ecoregion)
*Sierra Nevada (ecoregion)
*Wasatch and Uinta Mountains (ecoregion)
*Southern Rockies (ecoregion)
*Idaho Batholith (ecoregion)

Marine West Coast Forest

Marine West Coast Forest

*Ahklun and Kilbuck Mountains (ecoregion)
*Alaska Peninsula Mountains (ecoregion)
*Cook Inlet (ecoregion)
*Pacific Coastal Mountains (ecoregion)
*Coastal Western Hemlock-Sitka Spruce Forests (ecoregion)
*Pacific and Nass Ranges (ecoregion)
*Strait of Georgia/Puget Lowland (ecoregion)
*Coast Range (ecoregion)
*Willamette Valley (ecoregion)

Eastern Temperate Forests

Mixed Wood Plains

*Eastern Great Lakes and Hudson Lowlands (ecoregion)
*Lake Erie Lowland (ecoregion)
*Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands (ecoregion)
*North Central Hardwood Forests (ecoregion)
*Driftless Area (ecoregion)
*S. Michigan/N. Indiana Drift Plains (ecoregion)
*Northeastern Coastal Zone (ecoregion)
*Maine/New Brunswick Plains and Hills (ecoregion)
*Maritime Lowlands (ecoregion)
*Erie Drift Plain (ecoregion)

Central USA Plains

*Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains (ecoregion)
*Huron/Erie Lake Plains (ecoregion)
*Central Corn Belt Plains (ecoregion)
*Eastern Corn Belt Plains (ecoregion)

outheastern USA Plains

*Northern Piedmont (ecoregion)
*Interior River Valleys and Hills (ecoregion)
*Interior Plateau (ecoregion)
*Piedmont (ecoregion)
*Southeastern Plains (ecoregion)
*Mississippi Valley Loess Plains (ecoregion)
*South Central Plains (ecoregion)
*East Central Texas Plains (ecoregion)

Ozark, Ouachita-Appalachian Forests

*Ridge and Valley (ecoregion)
*Central Appalachians (ecoregion)
*Western Allegheny Plateau (ecoregion)
*Blue Ridge (ecoregion)
*Ozark Highlands (ecoregion)
*Boston Mountains (ecoregion)
*Arkansas Valley (ecoregion)
*Ouachita Mountains (ecoregion)
*Southwestern Appalachians (ecoregion)

Mississippi Alluvial and Southeast USA Coastal Plains

*Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain (ecoregion)
*Mississippi Alluvial Plain (ecoregion)
*Southern Coastal Plain (ecoregion)
*Atlantic Coastal Pine Barrens (ecoregion)

Great Plains

Temperate Prairies

*Aspen Parkland/Northern Glaciated Plains (ecoregion)
*Lake Manitoba and Lake Agassiz Plain (ecoregion)
*Western Corn Belt Plains (ecoregion)
*Central Irregular Plains (ecoregion)

West-Central Semi-Awid Prairies

*Northwestern Glaciated Plains (ecoregion)
*Northwestern Great Plains (ecoregion)
*Nebraska Sand Hills (ecoregion)

outh Central Semi-Arid Prairies

*High Plains (ecoregion)
*Central Great Plains (ecoregion)
*Southwestern Tablelands (ecoregion)
*Flint Hills (ecoregion)
*Cross Timbers (ecoregion)
*Edwards Plateau (ecoregion)
*Texas Blackland Prairies (ecoregion)

Texas-Louisiana Coastal Plain

*Western Gulf Coastal Plain (ecoregion)

Tamaulipas-Texas Semiarid Plain

*Southern Texas Plains/Interior Plains and Hills (ecoregion)

North American Deserts

Cold Deserts

*Thompson-Okanogan Plateau (ecoregion)
*Columbia Plateau (ecoregion)
*Northern Basin and Range (ecoregion)
*Wyoming Basin (ecoregion)
*Central Basin and Range (ecoregion)
*Colorado Plateaus (ecoregion)
*Arizona/New Mexico Plateau (ecoregion)
*Snake River Plain (ecoregion)

Warm Deserts

*Mojave Basin and Range (ecoregion)
*Sonoran Desert (ecoregion)
*Baja Californian Desert (ecoregion)
*Chihuahuan Desert (ecoregion)

Mediterranean California

Mediterranean California

*California Coastal Sage, Chaparral, and Oak Woodlands (ecoregion)
*Central California Valley (ecoregion)
*Southern and Baja California Pine-Oak Mountains (ecoregion)

outhern Semi-Arid Highlands

Western Sierra Madre Piedmont

*Madrean Archipelago (ecoregion)
*Western Sierra Madre Piedmonts and Plains (ecoregion)

Mexican High Plateau

*Mexican High Plateau Hills and Interior Plains (ecoregion)

Temperate Sierras

Upper Gila Mountains

*Arizona/New Mexico Mountains (ecoregion)

Western Sierra Madre

*Sierra Madre Occidental (ecoregion)

Eastern Sierra Madre

*Sierra Madre Oriental (ecoregion)

Transversal Neo-Volcanic System

*Interior Plains and Piedmonts (ecoregion)
*Transversal Hills and Sierras (ecoregion)

outhern Sierra Madre

*Sierras of Jalisco and Michoacán (ecoregion)
*Sierras of Guerrero and Oaxaca (ecoregion)

Central American Sierra Madre and Chiapas Highlands

*Central American Sierra Madre (ecoregion)
*Chiapas Highlands (ecoregion)

Tropical Dry Forests

Dry Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plains and Hills

*Dry Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain (ecoregion)
*Dry Gulf of Mexico Hills and Sierra (ecoregion)

Northwestern Plain of the Yucatan Peninsula

*Northwestern Yucatan Plain (ecoregion)

Western Pacific Coastal Plain, Hills and Canyons

*Sinaloa Coastal Plain (ecoregion)
*Sinaloa and Sonora Hills and Canyons (ecoregion)

Interior Depressions

*Balsas Depression (ecoregion)
*Chiapas Depression (ecoregion)
*Interior Valleys and Depressions (ecoregion)

outhern Pacific Coastal Plain and Hills

*Tehuantepec Canyon and Plain (ecoregion)
*South Pacific Hills and Piedmonts (ecoregion)

ierra and Plains of El Cabo

*Los Cabos Plains and Hills (ecoregion)
*La Laguna Mountains (ecoregion)

Tropical Wet Forests

Humid Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plains and Hills

*Humid Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plain (ecoregion)
*Humid Gulf of Mexico Coastal Hills (ecoregion)

Plain and Hills of the Yucatan Peninsula

*Yucatan Peninsula Plain/Deciduous Tropical Forest (ecoregion)
*Yucatan Peninsula Plain/Semi-Evergreen Tropical Forest (ecoregion)
*Yucatan Peninsula Hills (ecoregion)

ierra Los Tuxtlas

*Los Tuxtlas Sierra (ecoregion)

Everglades

*Southern Florida Coastal Plain (ecoregion)

Western Pacific Plain and Hills

*Nayarit and Sinaloa Plain (ecoregion)
*Jalisco/Nayarit Hills and Plains (ecoregion)

Coastal Plain and Hills of Soconusco

*Coastal Plain and Hills of Soconusco (ecoregion)

ee also

*Ecoregions defined by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation and partner agencies:
**List of ecoregions in the United States (EPA)
** [http://www.ec.gc.ca/soer-ree/English/Framework/Nardesc/canada_e.cfm Terrestrial Ecozones and Ecoregions of Canada] Environment Canada.

*The conservation group World Wildlife Fund maintains an alternate classification system:
**List of ecoregions (WWF)
**List of ecoregions in the United States (WWF)

References