Ecosystem Geography

This book outlines a system that subdivides the Earth into a hierarchy of increasingly finer-scale ecosystems that can sever as a consistent framework for ecological analysis and management. The system consists of a three-part, nested hierarchy of ecosystem units and associated mapping criteria. Delineating units involves identifying the environmental factors controlling the spatial geography of ecosystems at various levels and drawing boundaries where they change significantly. Macroscale units (ecoregions) are climatically controlled and delineated as K ppen-Trewartha climate zones. Nested within these are landscape mosaics, the mesoscale units, controlled by landform and delineated by Hammond 's landform regions. At the microscale are individual sites controlled by topographically determined topoclimate and soil moisture regimes.