Ecoregions of Oklahoma

Home , Mesa de Maya, Salt Fork Arkansas River, Western Oklahoma

Ecoregions of Oklahoma 103° 102° 101° 100° 99° 98° 97° 96° 95° 27 Medicine Lodge Independence 25 26 27 28 29 40 26 Winfield Joplin ° 25c Liberal 37 COLORADO A 25b 25b 25b rk 25c 26a a 37° r 25b KANSAS nsas N

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26 Stillwater g e iv r r R ive i n R s N Fort Gibson s 27o arro oi 25 High Plains 33 East Central Texas Plains im Broken Arrow R Lake 39a in C i l 39a ° v l 39b 27l I 36 ° e 25b Rolling Sand Plains 33a Northern Post Oak Savanna 36 r Sapulpa 25c Moderate Relief Plains Cushing Tahlequah 35 South Central Plains 27l C Guthrie 25e Canadian/Cimarron High Plains a 35b Floodplains and Low Terraces na 27l s River dian ve r ansa 26 Southwestern Tablelands 35c Pleistocene Fluvial Terraces Ri Ark 39a 26a Canadian/Cimarron Breaks 27q 35d Cretaceous Dissected Uplands TEXAS Muskogee 38 26b Flat Tablelands and Valleys 35g Red River Bottomlands W a 27d 26c Caprock Canyons, Badlands, and Breaks 35h Blackland Prairie sh Okmulgee 40b Tenkiller ita Deep Ferry 38b 26f Mesa de Maya/Black Mesa R N Fork iv o Lake er r 36 Ouachita Mountains El Reno th 29a 27 Central Great Plains 27h Clinton C 37b Sallisaw 36a Athens Plateau Weatherford an ad 27d Prairie Tableland ia 36b Central Mountain Ranges 27 Ca Oklahoma City n 27h Red Prairie Elk City nad R ian iv Fort 36d Fourche Mountains River e 37b Smith 27i Broken Red Plains r Shawnee Robert S. 36e Western Ouachitas N Kerr o 27k Wichita Mountains r Reservoir t Lake 37a 36f Western Ouachita Valleys h 27l Pleistocene Sand Dunes 27l F Norman Thunderbird r o ive rk R er 37d 27m Red River Tablelands 37 Arkansas Valley R Little iv e R Eufaula 37 d n Lake 37a 27n Gypsum Hills 37a Scattered High Ridges and Mountains R ia iv d e a 37a r 37b Arkansas River Floodplain r Chickasha n Poteau e 27o Cross Timbers Transition 26 a ° 37a i v 35 ° 27k 27o C R 27p Salt Plains 37d Arkansas Valley Plains 35 Elm Fo Lake u 26c rk Re Altus Ca ea d Ri 27h nadian R McAlester Pot 37a 27q Rolling Red Hills 37e Lower Canadian Hills ver 27o iver 27r Limestone Hills 27k 38 Boston Mountains ita R Lake Wash iver 37e 28 Flint Hills S 27r 38b Lower Boston Mountains a Ellsworth 36d l Ada 27 t 28a Flint Hills F 27k Pauls Valley Sardis o Mu 36f 36a 39 Ozark Highlands r 27k d Lake k d 36d 29 Cross Timbers y R B

39a Springfield Plateau e o d 29a Northern Cross Timbers 27m g 36e 39b Dissected Springfield Plateau– 26 R Altus 29h g y i Lawton r 36f 29b Eastern Cross Timbers v e C iv Elk River Hills e R Red River r r hi 29c Western Cross Timbers Duncan e ic e m L 36 k Atoka a i i 36a 29d Grand Prairie 40 Central Irregular Plains 27h Reservoir 36e t K t l

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29g Arbuckle Uplift 40b Osage Cuestas 29i R i 36e v Broken 29h Northwestern Cross Timbers 40d Cherokee Plains Waurika Lake e r Bow 29i Arbuckle Mountains Clear Bogg 36f Lake 36f Pine 27i y Cr Creek 36b Ardmore B lu eek Lake 36a e Hugo R 35d TEXAS 29c iv Lake Level III ecoregion boundary Level IV ecoregion boundary e r County boundary State boundary 29b Hugo 35c 34° 34° 27 Lake 35h Little River 35b Texoma Durant 35c Wichita Falls 35c 35b 35 29d Idabel SCALE 1:1 250 000 33a 35g Red River 35d Red River 35h 35 35g 15 10 5 0 15 30 mi Lake Pat Mayse NSAS 26 Kemp Lake 35c Lake TEXAS 33 Arrowhead

30 20 10 0 30 60 km ARKA TEXAS Albers Equal Area Projection 29 Sherman 33 Standard Parallels 34° 30' N and 36° 00' N 32

° ° ° ° ° INTERIOR—GEOLOGICAL SURVEY, RESTON, VIRGINIA—2005 100 99 98 97 96 95°

Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of Coastal Plain, occur in the southeast. Tall grass prairie, mixed grass prairie, and short grass prairie are Bryce, S.A., Omernik, J.M., and Larsen, D.P., 1999, Ecoregions – a geographic framework to guide risk PRINCIPAL AUTHORS: Alan J. Woods (Oregon State University), James M. environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, native to central and western Oklahoma. Mesquite and other xeric plants characterize the dry southwest. characterization and ecosystem management: Environmental Practice, v. 1, no. 3, p. 141-155. Omernik (U.S. Geological Survey), Daniel R. Butler (Oklahoma Conservation management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. By recognizing the spatial Elevations drop from about 5,000 feet on Black Mesa in the northwestern Panhandle to about 300 feet in Chapman, S.S., Omernik, J.M., Freeouf, J.A., Huggins, D.G., McCauley, J.R., Freeman, C.C., Steinauer, G., Commission–Water Quality Division), Jimmy G. Ford (U.S. Department of differences in the capacities and potentials of ecosystems, ecoregions stratify the environment by its southeastern Oklahoma. Rivers follow regional topographic trends. Impoundments are common, and Angelo, R.T., and Schlepp, R.L., 2001, Ecoregions of Nebraska and Kansas: Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Agriculture–Natural Resources Conservation Service), James E. Henley (U.S. Department of Agriculture–Natural Resources Conservation Service), Bruce W. probable response to disturbance (Bryce, Omernik, and Larsen, 1999). impact hydrology and the abundance and distribution of fish. Survey, map scale 1:1,950,000. Chapman, S.S., Omernik, J.M., Griffith, G.E., Schroeder, W.A., Nigh, T.A., and Wilton, T.F., 2002, Ecoregions Hoagland (Oklahoma Biological Survey), Derek S. Arndt (Oklahoma Ecoregions are general purpose regions that are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem The strong east-west zonation of vegetation and climate in Oklahoma significantly influences the of Iowa and Missouri: Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey, map scale 1:1,800,000. Climatological Survey), and Brian C. Moran (Indus Corporation). management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and nongovernment organizations that are distribution of fauna, including reptiles, mammals, and insects (Blair and Hubbell, 1938; Webb, 1970). Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997, Ecological regions of North COLLABORATORS AND CONTRIBUTORS: Kurt Atkinson (Oklahoma responsible for different types of resources in the same geographical areas (Omernik and others, 2000). A The western boundary of deciduous forest limits the westward extension of many eastern species. America – toward a common perspective: Montreal, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 71 p. Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry), Sandy A. Bryce (Dynamac Roman numeral hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels of ecological regions. Level I is Southern Rocky Mountain fauna species intergrade with Great Plains species on Black Mesa in the Gallant, A.L., Whittier, T.R., Larsen, D.P., Omernik, J.M., and Hughes, R.M., 1989, Regionalization as a tool for Corporation), Shannen S. Chapman (Dynamac Corporation), Philip A. Crocker the coarsest level, dividing North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into western Panhandle. Great Plains fauna are found in intervening districts. managing environmental resources: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA/600/3- (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), Glenn E. Griffith (Dynamac 52 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997). At level III, the 89/060, 152 p. Corporation), Chris Hise (The Nature Conservancy), Charlie Howell (U.S. Much of Oklahoma’s natural vegetation has been lost to overgrazing, burning, logging, erosion, and continental United States contains 104 regions whereas the conterminous United States has 84 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), Ron Jarman (Apex Environmental, Inc.), cultivation. Today, the state is a mosaic of grazing land, cropland, woodland, forests, and abandoned Griffith, G.E., Bryce, S.A., Omernik, J.M., Comstock, J.A., Rogers, A.C., Harrison, B., Hatch, S.L., and Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of level III Bezanson, D., 2004, Ecoregions of Texas: Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey, map scale 1:2,500,000. Thomas R. Loveland (U.S. Geological Survey), Kenneth V. Luza (Oklahoma farmland. Wheat and alfalfa are the main crops. Grain sorghum is well adapted to sandy soils. Soybeans Geological Survey), Phillip Moershel (Oklahoma Water Resources Board), ecoregions. Methods used by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) to define the Küchler, A.W., 1964, Potential natural vegetation of the conterminous United States (map and manual): American are becoming increasingly common on eastern plains and on moister parts of the prairie. Cotton is now Mark E. Moseley (U.S. Department of Agriculture–Natural Resources ecoregions are explained in Omernik (1995, 2004), Omernik and others (2000), and Gallant and others Geographical Society, Special Publication 36, map scale 1:3,168,000. concentrated on irrigated farmland in the southwest. Corn, once a major Oklahoma crop, has declined in Conservation Service), Randy Parham (Oklahoma Department of (1989). McMahon, G., Gregonis, S.M., Waltman, S.W., Omernik, J.M., Thorson, T.D., Freeouf, J.A., Rorick, A.H., and importance due to soil depletion and periodic droughts. Environmental Quality), and Brooks Tramell (Oklahoma Conservation Keys, J.E., 2001, Developing a spatial framework of common ecological regions for the conterminous United Commission–Water Quality Division). The Oklahoma ecoregion map was compiled at a scale of 1:250,000; it revises and subdivides an earlier This poster is part of a collaborative project between the USEPA Region 6, USEPA–National Health and States: Environmental Management, v. 28, no. 3, p. 293-316. level III ecoregion map that was originally compiled at a smaller scale (Omernik, 1987; U.S. Omernik, J.M., 1987, Ecoregions of the conterminous United States (map supplement): Annals of the Association REVIEWERS: George A. Bukenhofer (U.S. Forest Service), Richard A. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005). The approach used to compile the Oklahoma ecoregion map is Environmental Effects Research Laboratory (Corvallis, Oregon), Oklahoma Water Resources Board, of American Geographers, v. 77, p. 118-125, map scale 1:7,500,000. Marston (Boone Pickens School of Geology, Oklahoma State University), David V. Peck (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency), and Dale Splinter (Boone based on the premise that ecoregions can be identified through the analysis of the spatial patterns and the Oklahoma Biological Survey, Oklahoma Climatological Survey, Oklahoma Conservation Commission, Omernik, J.M., 1995, Ecoregions – a framework for environmental management, in Davis, W.S., and Simon, T.P., Pickens School of Geology, Oklahoma State University). composition of biotic and abiotic characteristics that affect or reflect differences in ecosystem quality Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food, and Forestry, Oklahoma Department of Environmental editors, Biological assessment and criteria – tools for water resource planning and decision making: Boca and integrity (Wiken, 1986; Omernik, 1987, 1995). These characteristics include physiography, geology, Quality, Oklahoma Geological Survey, The Nature Conservancy, U.S. Department of Raton, Florida, Lewis Publishers, p. 49-62. CITING THIS POSTER: Woods, A.J., Omernik, J.M., Butler, D.R., Ford, J.G., climate, soils, land use, wildlife, fish, hydrology, and vegetation (including “potential natural Agriculture–Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), and USGS Omernik, J.M., Chapman, S.S., Lillie, R.A., and Dumke, R.T., 2000, Ecoregions of Wisconsin: Transactions of Henley, J.E., Hoagland, B.W., Arndt, D.S., and Moran, B.C., 2005, Ecoregions vegetation”, defined by Küchler (p. 2, 1964) as “vegetation that would exist today” if human influence National Center for Earth Resources Observation and Science. This project is associated with an the Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts, and Letters, v. 88, p. 77-103. of Oklahoma (color poster with map, descriptive text, summary tables, and ended and “the resulting plant succession” was “telescoped into a single moment”). The relative interagency effort to develop a common framework of ecological regions (McMahon and others, 2001). Omernik, J.M., 2004, Perspectives on the nature and definition of ecological regions: Environmental Management photographs): Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey (map scale 1:1,250,000). importance of each characteristic varies from one ecoregion to another regardless of ecoregion Reaching that objective requires recognition of the differences in the conceptual approaches and mapping (published online, July 8, 2004), v. Online First, no. 10.1007/s00267-003-5197-2. http://springerlink.metapress.com. hierarchical level. methodologies that have been applied to develop the most common ecoregion-type frameworks, including U.S. Department of Agriculture–Soil Conservation Service, 1981, Land resource regions and major land resource This project was supported in part by funds from USEPA Region 6, Water those developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Forest Service (Bailey and others, 1994), the areas of the United States: Agriculture Handbook 296, 156 p. Quality Cooperative Agreement under the provisions of Section 104(b) (3) of In Oklahoma, there are 12 level III ecoregions and 46 level IV ecoregions; all but twelve of these level USEPA (Omernik 1987, 1995), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture–Soil Conservation Service U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2005, Level III ecoregions of the continental United States (revision of the Clean Water Act to the Oklahoma Water Resources Board (through the IV ecoregions continue into ecologically similar parts of adjacent states (Chapman and others, 2001, (1981). As each of these frameworks is further refined, their differences are becoming less discernible. Omernik, 1987): Corvallis, Oregon, USEPA–National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Office of the Secretary of Environment, State of Oklahoma). Assistance from 2002; Griffith and others, 2004; Woods and others, 2004). Oklahoma’s ecological diversity is strongly Western Ecology Division, Map M-1, various scales. Each collaborative ecoregion project, such as this one in Oklahoma, is a step toward attaining consensus the private sector is acknowledged in the form of Ron Jarman, Ph.D., on loan related to its varied climate, terrain, geology, soil, and land use. from Apex Environmental, Inc. and consistency in ecoregion frameworks for the entire nation. Webb, R.G., 1970, Reptiles of Oklahoma: Norman, University of Oklahoma Press, 370 p. Wiken, E., 1986, Terrestrial ecozones of Canada: Ottawa, Environment Canada, Ecological Land Classification Oklahoma contains vast plains, elevated karst plateaus, hills, and folded, low mountains. Precipitation Literature Cited: Electronic versions of ecoregion maps and posters as well as other Series no. 19, 26 p. ecoregion resources are available at increases eastward, rainfall variability increases westward, and both mean annual temperature and the Bailey, R.G., Avers, P.E., King, T., and McNab, W.H., editors, 1994, Ecoregions and subregions of the United length of the growing season increase southward. Soils influence the effectiveness and availability of Woods, A.J., Foti, T.L., Chapman, S.S., Omernik, J.M., Wise, J.A., Murray, E.O., Prior, W.L., Pagan, J.B., Jr., http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions.htm States (map): Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of Agriculture–Forest Service, map scale 1:7,500,000. Comstock, J.A., and Radford, M., 2004, Ecoregions of Arkansas: Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey, moisture for plant life. Forests cover most of the Ozark Plateau and the Ouachita Mountains; they Blair, W.F., and Hubbell, T.H., 1938, The biotic districts of Oklahoma: The American Midland Naturalist, v. 20, map scale 1:1,000,000. become progressively more stunted and open westward. Southern pine forests, typical of the Gulf no. 2, p. 425-454.