Changing Ecoregional Map Boundaries

The Forest Service has developed a mapping framework to help managers better understand the hierarchical order of the ecosystems they manage (Figure 1). This framework is called the National Hierarchical Framework of Ecological Units (Ecomap 1993, Cleland et al. 1997). The Agency officially adopted this framework (a.k.a. Ecomap) to provide a framework on which National Forest planning and assessment could be built. Broad-scale ecoregions (domain, division, and province) and subregions (section only) have been mapped and described for the whole country (Bailey 1995, Bailey et al. 1994, McNab and Avers 1994). North American ecoregions have also been mapped (Bailey 1998). More detailed subdivisions—referred to as land type associations and land types—have been developed for most National Forests—to assist with forest-level analysis and planning.