Ecological Land Units of the Lower 48 States

Bioclimate

Land Cover
Land Cover

Bioclimate Zones
Arctic

Cold Moist-Wet
Cold Dry-Semi-Dry
Cool Moist-Wet
Cool Semi-Dry
Hot Dry-Semi-Dry
Hot Moist-Wet
Undefined

The Bioclimate Zone map shows the the

climate of the land as it influences, and
is influenced by biological organisms.
Bioclimate has a huge effect on what kind
of life a certain area can hold, especially
the plant life. Bioclimate has huge
anthropogenic importance when it comes
to where we can grow certain types of
crops or look for certain types of wildlife.

Warm Dry-Semi-Dry
Warm Moist-Wet

The Land Cover Map shows what

occupies the land, be it natural or
artificial. Land cover obviously plays
a huge part in the type of ecological
zone we observe in a certain area.
Each zone is based on the density
and type of plant life observed, or
lack thereof. Each of these different
zones can support very different
types of animal life and ultimately
impact the type of ecological zone.

Water Body

205 410

Artificial or Urban Area

Bare Area
Grassland, Shrub, or Scrub
Mostly Cropland
Mostly Deciduous Forest
Mostly Evergreen Forest
Snow and Ice
Sparse Vegetation
Swampy or Often Flooded
Undefined
Water body

820 Miles

Ecological Land Units

205 410

820 Miles

Artificial or Urban (1)

Cold Wet Hills on Metamorphic Rocks with Mostly
Deciduous Forest (2)
Cool Semi-Dry Plains on Unconsolidated Sediment
with Grassland, Shrub, Scrub (3)
Warm Semi-Dry Hills on Pyroclastics with Grassland,
Shrub, Scrub (4)

This map is a combination of all four of the input factors:

bioclimate, land forms, bedrock geology, and land cover. The
resulting combination includes over 2,449 different Ecological
Land
Units
(ELU).
Each
different
ELU
can
have
different ecological sub-systems, even if only one of the above four
factors is different, and the rest are the same. This map is a great
tool for anyone to use to find what kind of ecosystems you may
find in a specific area of the lower United States. This map also
exemplifies the impressive range of environmental conditions
that the US has to offer for plant and animal life. The data is in 250
meter resolution showing a spectacular amount of detail. This is an
exact replica of the data presented by ESRI, but clipped into
showing just the lower 48 states. The ELU is a generalized version
of the Ecological Facets, which contained almost two times as
much variation for each of the four factors listed above.

Author: Corey MacIsaac

Data Acquired from ESRI
Dataset assembled by ESRI and USGS
Date Finished:4-14-2015
Coordinate System: North America Equidistant Conic
Projection: Equidistant Conic
Datum: North American 1983
False Easting: 0.0000
False Northing: 0.0000
Central Meridian: -96.0000
Standard Parallel 1: 20.0000
Standard Parallel 2: 60.0000
Latitude Of Origin: 40.0000
Units: Meter

.2

The ELU map of the 48 contiguous United States has over

2,400 unique values, therefore making a comprehensive legend
impractical. However above is a sample of some of the values
you might come across in the map, as well as below showing all
of the color variations you might come across in the map, along
with their respective Bioclimate and Land Forms.

.1

.3

.4

250

500

1,000 Miles

Land Forms

Bedrock Geology

Bedrock Geology
Acid Plutonics

The Land Forms map shows the topography of

Land Forms the land and the type of sloping features that
are present. The type of land form present has
Plains
a significant effect on the type of plant and
Hills
animal life that can survive there, hence
Mountains
greatly impacting what type of ecological unit
Water body
you find.This being said, air temperature
decreases as altitude above sea level increases.

The Bedrock Geology map shows

the type of bedrock present in each
area. Bedrock geology has an
important effect on the ecology of
an area since it can affect the
landforms present, chemistry of the
water, soil composition, and the
nutrients available for vegetation.

Carbonate Sed. Rock

Evaporite
Ice and Glaciers
Metamorphic Rock
Mixed Sedimentary Rock
Non-Acidic Plutonics
Non-Carbonate Sed. Rock
Undefined
Pyroclastics
Unconsolidated Sediment

205 410

820 Miles

Water body

205 410

820 Miles