Identification_Information: Citation: Citation_Information: Originator: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency/Office of Water/OST Publication_Date: 20070611 Title: Level III Ecoregions of the Conterminous United States in BASINS Publication_Information: Publication_Place: Washington, D.C. Publisher: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Online_Linkage: For BASINS model and data http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/basins/ For further documentation and information on ecoregions http://www.epa.gov/nsdi/projects/useco.htm Description: Abstract: The ECOREG coverage provides polygon coverage of the Level III ecoregions for the conterminous United States. The coverage is stored in the EPA Spatial Data Library System (ESDLS). The ecoregions shown here have been derived from ecoregions of the conterminous United States and from refinements of Omernik's framework that have been made for other projects. These ongoing or recently completed projects, conducted in collaboration with the U.S. EPA regional offices and with state resource management agencies, involve refining ecoregions, defining subregions, and locating sets of reference sites. These are designed to serve as a spatial framework for environmental resource management. For distribution with BASINS v.2.0, the data layer was prepared in Arcview shape file format. Purpose: This coverage provides a valuable data layer for BASINS that require Arcview shape file format in an unprojected form. Ecoregions denote areas within which ecosystems (the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources) are generally similar. The most immediate needs are to develop regional biological criteria and water quality standards and to set management goals for nonpoint source pollution. Supplemental_Information: Intended_use_of_data: This data set was prepared to support the U.S. EPA BASINS (Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources) System. Limitations_of_Data: None Procedures: The approach used to compile these data is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of the 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. Because of possible confusion with other meanings of terms for different levels of ecological regions, a Roman numeral classification scheme has been adopted for this effort. Level I is the most coarse level, dividing North America into nine ecological regions. Level II, the continent, is subdivided into 32 classes. Level III further subdivides the continent into 78 classes. For portions of the United States, the ecoregions have been further subdivided to Level IV. The Applications of the ecoregions are explained in Gallant et al., (1989) and in reports and publications from state and regional projects. The National Geographic Information Services (NGIS) Team at Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Systems Development Center (SDC) reprojected the coverage to North American Datum 83 (NAD83) and added the ecoregion names to the data set. a. All ecoregion and subregion coverages are digitized from the USGS 1:250,000 base maps. Prior to digitizing, each base map must be initialized to orient the map and relate it in geographic coordinates to the surface of the earth. When the registration tics are entered at the start of digitizing, a transformation error of <0.003 must be achieved in order to ensure a high level of registration accuracy. The person responsible for digital data entry completes a data sheet describing coverage name, date of entry, and whether a topology for the coverage is established. b. After each 1:250,000 base map has been digitized, a topology for each coverage is established. This function creates unique identities for each polygon. c. Next, each base map is tested for polygon errors through an internal editing function. Errors are corrected for unlabeled polygons, unclosed polygons, or polygons with more than one label. Topology is re- established for each coverage and tested again until no errors are indicated. d. The digital coverage is then plotted at the same scale as the original base map. This coverage is overlaid on a light table with the original and visually inspected for replication of original lines with digitized lines. Two individuals independently inspect the coverage for accuracy. Reviews_Applied: SDC Product Assurance (PA) applied these reviews to the data set: a. Verified coverage existence and spatial extent. b. Verified the addition of ecoregion names to the data set. c. Verified spatial index existence and the use of NAD83 projection. References_Cited: Gallant, A.L., T.R. Whittier, D.P. Larsen, J.M. Omernik, and R.M. Hughes. 1989. Regionalization as a Tool for Managing Environmental Resources. EPA/600/3089/060. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Research Laboratory, Corvallis, OR. 152p. Gallant, A.L., E.F. Binnian, J.M. Omernik, and M.B. Shasby. (draft map and report). Ecoregions of Alaska Report prepared jointly by the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Colorado State University. Omernik, J.M., U.S. EPA, NHEERL, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333 (phone: 503-754-4458). Omernik, J.M. 1987 "Ecoregions of the Conterminous United States." Map (scale 1:7,500,000). Annals of the Association of American Geographers 77(1):118-125. Omernik, J.M. 1995. "Ecoregions: A framework for environmental management." in: Biological Assessment and Criteria: Tools for Water Resource Planning and Decision Making. W. Davis and T. Simon (eds.) Lewis Publishers, Chelsea, MI. Wiken, E. 1986. Terrestrial Ecozones of Canada. Environment Canada. Ecological Land Classification Series No. 19. Ottawa, Canada. Notes: Source Data Information 1. Original data were compiled at 1:3, 168,000, 1986. 2. Unknown number of revisions between 1986 and 1994. (Est. 6-8) 3. 2 new ecoregions (77-North Cascades and 78-Klamath Mountains) were added to reflect changes with the subregion project in Oregon and Washington. 3/95 4. Revised lines reflecting changes in subregions in Oregon and Washington. 8/95 5. Revised lines reflecting changes in subregions in Pennsylvania, the Blue Ridge Mountains, Ridge and Valley, and Central Appalachians of EPA Region 3. 11/95 6. Revised lines reflecting changes in subregions in North Dakota, Indiana, and Ohio. Ecoregion 42 (Northwestern Glaciated Plains) was enlarged to include the area of ecoregion 45 (Northeastern Great Plains). Ecoregion 45 was deleted. A new ecoregion 45 (Piedmont) was added in the southeast US. 1/96 Time_Period_of_Content: Time_Period_Information: Range_of_Dates/Times: Beginning_Date: 1986 Ending_Date: 1994 Currentness_Reference: 19960930 Status: Progress: Complete Maintenance_and_Update_Frequency: As needed Spatial_Domain: Bounding_Coordinates: West_Bounding_Coordinate: -167.0 East_Bounding_Coordinate: -65.0 North_Bounding_Coordinate: 71.0 South_Bounding_Coordinate: 17.5 Keywords: Theme: Theme_Keyword_Thesaurus: None. Theme_Keyword: Omernik Ecoregions Conterminous United States Coast Range Puget Lowland Willamette Valley Cascades Sierra Nevada Southern and Central California Plains and Hills Central California Mountains Southern California Mountains Eastern Cascades Slopes and Foothills Columbia Plateau Blue Mountains Snake River Basin/High Desert Northern Basin and Range Southern Basin and Range Northern Rockies Montana Valley and Foothill Prairies Middle Rockies Wyoming Basin Wasatch and Uinta Mountains Colorado Plateaus Southern Rockies Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Arizona/New Mexico Mountains Southern Deserts Western High Plains Southwestern Tablelands Central Great Plains Flints Hills Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains Edwards Plateau Southern Texas Plains Texas Blackland Prairies East Central Texas Plains Western Gulf Coastal Plains South Central Plains Ouachita Mountains Arkansas Valley Boston Mountains Ozark Highlands Central Irregular Plains Northern Montana Glaciated Plains Northwestern Glaciated Plains Northwestern Great Plains Nebraska Sand Hills Piedmont Northern Glaciated Plains Western Corn Belt Plains Lake Agassiz Plain Northern Minnesota Wetlands Northern Lakes and Forests Northern Central Hardwood Forests Driftless Area Southeastern Wisconsin Till Plains Central Corn Belt Plains Eastern Corn Belt Plains S. Michigan/N. Indiana Drift Plains Huron/Erie Lake Plains Northeastern Highlands Northeastern Coastal Zone Northern Appalachian Plateau and Uplands Erie/Ontario Lake Hills and Plain North Central Appalachians Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain Northern Piedmont Southeastern Plains Blue Ridge Mountains Central Appalachian Ridges and Valleys Southwestern Appalachians Central Appalachians Western Allegheny Plateau Interior Plateau Interior River Lowland Mississippi Alluvial Plain Mississippi Valley Loess Plains Southern Coastal Plain Southern Florida Coastal Plain North Cascades Klamath Mountains Place: Place_Keyword_Thesaurus: Geographic Names Information System Place_Keyword: Conterminous United States of America (CONUS) Place_Keyword: Alabama AL Place_Keyword: Arizona AZ Place_Keyword: Arkansas AR Place_Keyword: California CA Place_Keyword: Colorado CO Place_Keyword: Connecticut CT Place_Keyword: Delaware DE Place_Keyword: District of Columbia DC Place_Keyword: Florida FL Place_Keyword: Georgia GA Place_Keyword: Idaho ID Place_Keyword: Illinois IL Place_Keyword: Indiana IN Place_Keyword: Iowa IA Place_Keyword: Kansas KS Place_Keyword: Kentucky KY Place_Keyword: Louisiana LA Place_Keyword: Maine ME Place_Keyword: Maryland MD Place_Keyword: Massachusetts MA Place_Keyword: Michigan MI Place_Keyword: Minnesota MN Place_Keyword: Mississippi MS Place_Keyword: Missouri MO Place_Keyword: Montana MT Place_Keyword: Nebraska NE Place_Keyword: Nevada NV Place_Keyword: New Hampshire NH Place_Keyword: New Jersey NJ Place_Keyword: New Mexico NM Place_Keyword: New York NY Place_Keyword: North Carolina NC Place_Keyword: North Dakota ND Place_Keyword: Ohio OH Place_Keyword: Oklahoma OK Place_Keyword: Oregon OR Place_Keyword: Pennsylvania PA Place_Keyword: Rhode Island RI Place_Keyword: South Carolina SC Place_Keyword: South Dakota SD Place_Keyword: Tennessee TN Place_Keyword: Texas TX Place_Keyword: Utah UT Place_Keyword: Vermont VT Place_Keyword: Virginia VA Place_Keyword: Washington WA Place_Keyword: West Virginia WV Place_Keyword: Wisconsin WI Place_Keyword: Wyoming WY Access_Constraints: None Use_Constraints: None. Acknowledgement of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency would be appreciated. Native_Data_Set_Environment: Arcview shape files on Window 95 PC. Data_Quality_Information: Logical_Consistency_Report: Polygon and chain-node topology present. Completeness_Report: See Supplemental_Information Lineage: Process_Step: Process_Description: The Arc/Info export file was downloaded from the EPA FTP site (ftp.epa.gov/pub/spdata/ecoreg.e00.gz) and was converted from Albers Conic Equal Area projection to geographic decimal degrees projection using Arc/Info. The coverage was then converted to Arcview shape file using the Arc/Info ARCSHAPE command. For distribution with BASINS 2.0, the data layer was divided by EPA regions (i.e. distribution by CD). Other form of data distribution (e.g. by cataloging unit) is available through the web (http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/basins/). Process_Date: 19980218 Process_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Organization_Primary: Contact_Organization: Tetra Tech, Inc. Contact_Address: Address_Type: Mailing Address Address: 10306 Eaton Place, Suite 340 City: Fairfax State_or_Province: Virginia Postal_Code: 22030 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: 703-385-6000 Contact_Instructions: See Distributor_Information Spatial_Data_Organization_Information: Spatial_Reference_Information: Horizontal_Coordinate_System_Definition: Geographic: Latitude_Resolution: 0.0001 Longitude_Resolution: 0.0001 Geographic_Coordinate_Units: Decimal Degrees Geodetic_Model: Horizontal_Datum_Name: North American Datum of 1983 Ellipsoid_Name: Geodetic Reference System 80 Semi-major_Axis: 6378137 Denominator_of_Flattening_Ratio: 298.257 Entity_and_Attribute_Information: Detailed_Description: Entity_Type: Entity_Type_Label: ecoreg.dbf Entity_Type_Definition: Ecoregion primary attribute table. Entity_Type_Definition_Source: USEPA Attribute: Attribute_Label: AREA Attribute_Definition: Area of poly/region in square coverage units. Attribute_Definition_Source: Computed Attribute_Domain_Values: Enumerated_Domain: Enumerated_Domain_Value: 12 Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating value Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned Attribute: Attribute_Label: PERIMETER Attribute_Definition: Perimeter of poly/region in coverage units. Attribute_Definition_Source: Computed Attribute_Domain_Values: Enumerated_Domain: Enumerated_Domain_Value: 10 Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Floating Value Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned Attribute: Attribute_Label: Ecoreg_ Attribute_Definition: ARC/INFO internal value Attribute_Definition_Source: Computed Attribute_Domain_Values: Enumerated_Domain: Enumerated_Domain_Value: 4 Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Integer value Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: Assigned Attribute: Attribute_Label: Ecoreg_id Attribute_Definition: User-assigned feature number. Attribute_Definition_Source: User-defined Attribute_Domain_Values: Enumerated_Domain: Enumerated_Domain_Value: 4 Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Integer value Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: USEPA Attribute: Attribute_Label: Eco Attribute_Definition: Ecoregion ID Attribute_Definition_Source: USEPA Attribute_Domain_Values: Enumerated_Domain: Enumerated_Domain_Value: 2 Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: Integer value Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: USEPA Attribute: Attribute_Label: Name Attribute_Definition: Indicates the name of the ecoregion. Attribute_Definition_Source: USEPA Attribute_Domain_Values: Enumerated_Domain: Enumerated_Domain_Value: 40 Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition: character ID value Enumerated_Domain_Value_Definition_Source: USEPA Distribution_Information: Distributor: Contact_Information: Contact_Organization_Primary: Contact_Organization: USEPA/Office of Water/OST Contact_Address: Address_Type: Mailing Address Address: 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (4305T) City: Washington State_or_Province: District of Columbia Postal_Code: 20460 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: 202-566-0400 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 202-566-0409 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: basins@epa.gov Distribution_Liability: Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at Tetra Tech, Inc., no warranty expressed or implied is made regarding the accuracy or utility of the data on any other system or for general or scientific purposes, nor shall the act of distribution constitute any such warranty. This disclaimer applies both to individual use of the data and aggregate use with other data. It is also strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency nor Tetra Tech, Inc. shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein. Standard_Order_Process: Digital_Form: Digital_Transfer_Information: Format_Name: Environmental Systems Research Institute (ESRI) ArcView Shapefile Digital_Transfer_Option: Online_Option: Computer_Contact_Information: Network_Address: Network_Resource_Name: http://www.epa.gov/waterscience/basins/ Offline_Option: Offline_Media: CD-ROM Recording_Format: ISO 9660 Fees: None Ordering_Instructions: When requesting data by phone or mail, please inquire about spatial data sets that work with Better Assessment Science Integrating Point and Nonpoint Sources (BASINS). The BASINS web page has instructions for downloading datasets. It also has a link to The National Center for Environmental Publications and Information (NCEPI), from which BASINS CD-ROMs may be ordered. Each CD-ROM contains the BASINS v2.0 Application and this data set along with others covering the spatial extent of an EPA Region. Metadata_Reference_Information: Metadata_Date: 20070611 Metadata_Contact: Contact_Information: Contact_Organization_Primary: Contact_Organization: USEPA/OW/OST Contact_Address: Address_Type: Mailing Address Address: 1200 Pennsylvania Ave., NW (4305T) City: Washington State_or_Province: District of Columbia Postal_Code: 20460 Country: USA Contact_Voice_Telephone: 202-566-0400 Contact_Facsimile_Telephone: 202-566-0409 Contact_Electronic_Mail_Address: basins@epa.gov Metadata_Standard_Name: FGDC Content Standards for Digital Geospatial Metadata Metadata_Standard_Version: 19940608