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Level III and IV Ecoregions of South Carolina

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Level III and IV Ecoregions of South Carolina Ecoregions of South Carolina 83° 82° 81° 80° 79° Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the 66 Charlotte type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the research, assessment, 45i Lake Fayetteville management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem 35° Wiley 66d 45 35° components. Ecoregions are directly applicable to many state agency 45a activities, including the selection of regional stream reference sites, the Spartanburg Rock Hill 66 Lake Greenville 45c development of biological criteria and water quality standards, and the Keowee 45g establishment of management goals for nonpoint-source pollution. R E e n C e o a d r e t They are also relevant to integrated ecosystem management, an y e a 65 w R R i b i v ultimate goal of many federal and state resource management agencies. a 45c v e B e r r R r 45b o a i v d e The approach used to compile this map of South Carolina is based on r S 65c a lu R the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the d i a v e Anderson R analysis of the patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena that reflect r iv 65l e Hartwell r differences in ecosystem quality and integrity (Wiken 1986; Omernik Lake Lake Wateree 1987, 1995). These phenomena include geology, physiography, 65p vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife, and hydrology. The 65l 65p Richard B. Lake relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological Russell Greenwood region to another regardless of the hierarchical level. A Roman numeral Lake Lake Murray Florence hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels of ecological 63 regions. Level I and Level II divide the North American continent into 45c 45b 34° L 45c Columbia y 15 and 52 regions, respectively (Commission for Environmental n Athens c 34° h 63n e Cooperation Working Group 1997). At Level III, the continental United Sumter s 63h P R ee r States contains 104 regions (United States Environmental Protection iv D Rive 65l e e w 65p r e ma 45 R a Agency [U.S. EPA] 2000). Level IV is a further subdivision of the 65p i c v c 63g 65c e a r Level III ecoregions. Explanations of the methods used to define the 65l W J Strom Thurmond 45b 63h Lake 65c U.S. EPA's ecoregions are given in Omernik (1995), Griffith and others Myrtle Beach (1997, 2002a), and Gallant and others (1989). B 63h 65l lack 65p Riv The Level III and IV Ecoregions of South Carolina map was compiled er Aiken Orangeburg 63h at a scale of 1:250,000; it depicts revisions and subdivisions of earlier 65p Lake Sa 65l 63n nte Level III ecoregions that were originally compiled at a smaller scale Marion e R Augusta iv er (U.S. EPA 1999; Omernik 1987). Compilation of this map is part of a 63h Georgetown collaborative project primarily between the U.S. Department of Lake Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the 65l 63n Moultrie 65p U.S. EPA National Health and Environmental Effects Research 63h WINYAH BAY Laboratory (NHEERL), U.S. EPA Region IV, and the South Carolina 63h 75j Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC). This C E o 33° di o project is also associated with an interagency effort to develop a sto River p e r 33° common framework of ecological regions (McMahon and others 2001, R i v BULLS BAY e Griffith and others 2002b). Regional collaborative projects, such as this 63h r Sa one in South Carolina where some agreement can be reached among lk e h 63n a multiple resource management agencies, are a step in the direction of t Charleston c h i attaining commonality and consistency in ecoregion frameworks for the e S R a 63h i entire nation. v ve a r n na Comments regarding this Level III and IV Ecoregions of South h 65 R i 75j ve Carolina map should be addressed to Glenn Griffith, USDA-NRCS, r ATLANTIC 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, (541) 754-4465, email: 75i ST. HELENA SOUND OCEAN [email protected], or to James Omernik, USGS, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, (541) 754-4458, email: [email protected]. PORT ROYAL SOUND Literature Cited: 75j 75 Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997, 32° Savannah Ecological regions of North America - toward a common perspective: 32° Montreal, Quebec, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 71 p. Gallant, A.L., Whittier, T.R., Larsen, D.P., Omernik, J.M., and Hughes, R.M., 1989, Regionalization as a tool for managing environmental 83° 82° 81° 80° 79° resources: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency EPA/600/3-89/060, 152 p. 45 Piedmont 65 Southeastern Plains Level III ecoregion Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., and Azevedo, S.H., 1997, Ecoregions of 45a Southern Inner Piedmont 65c Sand Hills Tennessee: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Level IV ecoregion National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, 45b Southern Outer Piedmont 65l Atlantic Southern Loam Plains EPA/600/R-97/022, 51 p. 45c Carolina Slate Belt 65p Southeastern Floodplains and Low Terraces County boundary State boundary Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., and Comstock, J.A., 2002a, Ecoregions of 45g Triassic Basins South Carolina: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection 66 Blue Ridge 45i Kings Mountain Agency, National Health and Environmental Effects Research 66d Southern Crystalline Ridges and Mountains Laboratory, 47 p. Griffith, G.E., Omernik, J.M., Comstock, J.A., Schafale, M.P., McNab, 63 Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain 75 Southern Coastal Plain SCALE 1:1 500 000 W.H., Lenat, D.R., MacPherson, T.F., Glover, J.B., and Shelburne, V.B., 63g Carolinian Barrier Islands and Coastal Marshes 75i Floodplains and Low Terraces 15 10 5 0 30 60 mi 2002b, Ecoregions of North Carolina and South Carolina, (color poster 63h Carolina Flatwoods 75j Sea Islands/Coastal Marsh with map descriptive text, summary tables, and photographs): Reston, Virginia, U.S. Geological Survey (map scale 1:1,500,000). 63n Mid-Atlantic Floodplains and Low Terraces 30 20 10 0 60 120 km McMahon, G., Gregonis, S.M., Waltman, S.W., Omernik, J.M., Thorson, Albers Equal Area Projection T.D., Freeouf, J.A., Rorick, A.H., and Keys, J.E., 2001, Developing a spatial framework of common ecological regions for the conterminous United States: Environmental Management, v. 28, no. 3, p. 293-316. Omernik, J.M., 1987, Ecoregions of the conterminous United States (map Level III Ecoregions of the Conterminous United States supplement): Annals of the Association of American Geographers, v. 77, 1 Coast Range 29 Central Oklahoma/Texas Plains 57 Huron/Erie Lake Plains no. 1, p. 118-125, scale 1:7,500,000. 77 1 2 2 Puget Lowland 30 Edwards Plateau 58 Northeastern Highlands Omernik, J.M., 1995, Ecoregions-a spatial framework for environmental 15 41 42 3 Willamette Valley 31 Southern Texas Plains 59 Northeastern Coastal Zone 10 management, in Davis, W.S. and Simon, T.P., eds., Biological assessment 49 4 Cascades 32 Texas Blackland Prairies 60 Northern Appalachian Plateau 48 82 and criteria-tools for water resource planning and decision making: Boca 1 3 5 Sierra Nevada 33 East Central Texas Plains and Uplands 4 11 42 6 Southern and Central California 34 Western Gulf Coastal Plain 61 Erie Drift Plain Raton, Florida, Lewis Publishers, p. 49-62. 16 17 43 50 58 58 Chaparral and Oak Woodlands 35 South Central Plains 62 North Central Appalachians 51 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2000, Level III ecoregions of the 9 46 50 7 Central California Valley 36 Ouachita Mountains 63 Middle Atlantic Coastal Plain 17 59 continental United States (revision of Omernik, 1987): Corvallis, Oregon, 78 12 17 83 8 Southern California Mountains 37 Arkansas Valley 64 Northern Piedmont 80 57 60 58 52 53 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency-National Health and 56 62 9 Eastern Cascades Slopes and 38 Boston Mountains 65 Southeastern Plains 18 62 Foothills 39 Ozark Highlands 66 Blue Ridge Mountains Environmental Effects Research Laboratory Map, M-1. 44 47 57 61 67 5 19 64 84 10 Columbia Plateau 40 Central Irregular Plains 67 Ridge and Valley 13 54 11 Blue Mountains 41 Canadian Rockies 68 Southwestern Appalachians Wiken, E., 1986, Terrestrial ecozones of Canada: Ottawa, Environment 55 70 21 40 63 Canada, Ecological Land Classification Series no. 19, 26 p. 1 7 20 25 12 Snake River Plain 42 Northwestern Glaciated Plains 69 Central Appalachians 27 66 13 Central Basin and Range 43 Northwestern Great Plains 70 Western Allegheny Plateau 6 72 69 28 40 14 Mojave Basin and Range 44 Nebraska Sand Hills 71 Interior Plateau 71 15 Northern Rockies 45 Piedmont 72 Interior River Lowland 14 39 8 16 Idaho Batholith 46 Northern Glaciated Plains 73 Mississippi Alluvial Plain 22 68 65 PRINCIPAL AUTHORS: Glenn E. Griffith (NRCS), James M. Omernik 26 38 66 17 Middle Rockies 47 Western Corn Belt Plains 74 Mississippi Valley Loess Plains 6 45 63 (USEPA), Jeffrey A. Comstock (Indus Corporation), James B. Glover 37 73 18 Wyoming Basin 48 Lake Agassiz Plain 75 Southern Coastal Plain 81 23 67 36 19 Wasatch and Uinta Mountains 49 Northern Minnesota Wetlands 76 Southern Florida Coastal Plain (SCDHEC), and Victor B. Shelburne (Clemson University). 25 20 Colorado Plateaus 50 Northern Lakes and Forests 77 North Cascades 79 23 29 21 Southern Rockies 51 North Central Hardwood 78 Klamath Mountains 74 65 COLLABORATORS AND CONTRIBUTORS: Jim Harrison (USEPA), 27 32 35 22 Arizona/New Mexico Plateau Forests 79 Madrean Archipelago 24 33 23 Arizona/New Mexico Mountains 52 Driftless Area 80 Northern Basin and Range Ronald C.
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