The USGS EROS Data Center and the U.S. EPA NHEERL-WED initiated this project to develop an ecological classification and ecoregion map for the Western Hemisphere (North and South America) that is consistent with recent U.S. EPA and North American ecoregion frameworks (CEC 1997; U.S. EPA 1998; Gallant et al. 1995).  This coverage includes a first approximation of ecological regions of Central and South America that is relatively consistent with the purpose and methods of those already completed frameworks for North America.  Designed to serve as a spatial framework for environmental resource assessment and management, ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources.

This initial delineation of ecoregions was based on analysis of multiple types and scales of thematic maps including geology, physiography, soils, potential and existing vegetation, climate, landcover and agricultural uses, other ecological frameworks, and from other regional descriptive documents.
Maps and information of environmental characteristics of Central and South America and the Caribbean were collected from several U.S. university libraries, the EROS Data Center, the Library of Congress, the USGS Cartographic Information Center in Reston, and the U.S. State Department map library.  In addition to the variety of information from these thematic maps and descriptive texts, regional patterns were also assessed from the global land cover characteristics database obtained from 1-km Advanced Very High Resolution Radiometer (AVHRR) data (Loveland and Belward 1997; Loveland et al. 1998).  More detail on the philosophy, methodology, and references used in the compilation of these ecoregions can be found in Omernik (1995) and Griffith et al. (1998).

	Literature cited:
	Commission for Environmental Cooperation. 1997. Ecological regions of North America: Towards a common perspective. Commission for Environmental Cooperation. Montreal, Quebec, Canada. 71p.

	Gallant, A.L., E.F. Binnian, J.M. Omernik, and M.B. Shasby. 1995. Ecoregions of Alaska. U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1567. 73p.

	Griffith, G.E., J.M. Omernik, and S.H. Azevedo. 1998. Ecological classification of the Western Hemisphere. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon. 47p. 

	Loveland, T.R. and Belward, A.S., 1997. The IGBP-DIS Global 1 km Land Cover Data Set, DISCover First Results.  International Journal of Remote Sensing 18(15): 3289-3295.

	Loveland, T.R., D.O. Ohlen, J.F. Brown, B.C. Reed, Z. Zhu, J.W. Merchant, and L. Yang. 1998. Western hemisphere land cover - progress toward a global land cover characteristics database. In: Proceedings, Pecora 13, Human Interactions with the Environment: Perspectives From Space.

	Omernik, J.M. 1995. Ecoregions: A spatial framework for environmental management.  In: Biological Assessment and Criteria: Tools for Water Resource Planning and Decision Making.  W.S. Davis and T.P. Simon (eds.). Lewis Publishers, Boca Raton, FL. pp. 49-62.

	U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 1998. Level III Ecoregions of the Continental United States, Map M-1 (revision of Omernik, 1987). National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon.
			

Ecoregion maps assist managers of aquatic and terrestrial resources to understand the regional patterns of the realistically attainable quality of these resources.

Comments and questions regarding the Ecoregions of Central and South America should be addressed to Glenn Griffith, USGS, c/o US EPA., 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, (541)-754-4465, email:griffith.glenn@epa.gov Alternate: James Omernik, USGS, c/o US EPA, 200 SW 35th Street, Corvallis, OR 97333, (541)-754-4458, email:omernik.james@epa.gov. 

Electronic versions of ecoregion maps and posters, as well as other ecoregion resources are available at: http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions.htm.

Ecoregions were digitized at 1:5,000,000 or smaller scales and are intended for large geographic extents (i.e. states/provinces, multiple counties, or river basins).  Use for smaller areas, is not recommended.

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Publication date

None.

None. Please check sources, scale, accuracy, currentness and other available information. Please confirm that you are using the most recent copy of both data and metadata.  Acknowledgement of the EPA would be appreciated.

Ecoregions for Central and South America are designed to be relatively consistent with the North America and United States frameworks.  They are hierarchical with Level I being the broadest classification and Level III being the most detailed.  Because of this hierarchy, Level III features include appropriate codes and names for Levels II and I and Level II retains Level I information.

Ecoregion Codes and Names:

	13. Temperate Sierras
		13.6 Central American Sierra Madre and Chiapas Highlands
			13.6.1 Northern Central American Highlands
			13.6.2 Central American Sierra Madre
			13.6.4 Altos de Chiapas con bosque mesoófilo

	14. Mexican Tropical Dry Forests
		14.4 Interior Depressions
			14.4.2 Chiapas Depression
			14.4.3 Motagua Valley

	15. Middle American Tropical Wet Forests
		15.1 Humid Gulf of Mexico Coastal Plains and Hills 
			15.1.4 Humid Gulf of Mexico and Southern Petén Hills
			15.1.5 Maya Mountains
		15.2 Yucatan Peninsula Plains and Hills
			15.2.1 Quintana Roo / Belizean Wet Coastal Lowland
			15.2.2 Yucatán Karst Plains 
			15.2.3 Central Yucatán / Petén Hills and Karst Plains
		15.6 Soconusco / Guatemalan Coastal Plain and Hills
			15.6.2 Soconusco / Guatemalan Coastal Plain
			15.6.3 Soconusco Hills / Guatemalan Piedmont
		15.7 Central American Isthmus
			15.7.1 Pacific Volcanic Lowlands
			15.7.2 Caribbean Coastal Plains and Hills
			15.7.3 Miskito Lowland Pine Savanna
			15.7.4 Guanacaste / Central Volcanic Uplands
			15.7.5 Talamanca and Panama Central Cordilleras
			15.7.6 Costa Rica-Panama Pacific Plains and Hills

	16. West Indies
		16.1 Bahamas
			16.1.1 Bahamas
		16.2 Greater Antilles
			16.2.1 Cuba
			16.2.2 Mountainous Greater Antilles
		16.3 Lesser Antilles
			16.3.1 Limestone Low Islands
	1		6.3.2 Volcanic High Islands

	17. Northern Andes
		17.1 Caribe / Pacific Lowland Plains and Hills
			17.1.1 Sinú / Magdalena Dry Plains
			17.1.2 Magdalena Wet Plains
			17.1.3 Maracaibo Lowlands 
			17.1.4 Guajira/Paraguaná Peninsulas
			17.1.5 Chichiriviche Coastal Plain
			17.1.6 Unare Plains 
			17.1.7 Pacific Plains and Hills
			17.1.8 Guayas-Tumbes-Piura Dry Hills
		17.2 Venezuelan Coastal Andes
			17.2.1 Segovia Highlands
			17.2.2 Central Coastal Cordillera
			17.2.3 Eastern Coastal Cordillera
		17.3 Northern Andean Highlands
			17.3.1 Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta
			17.3.2 Colombian / Venezuelan High Cordilleras 
			17.3.3 Paramo / Alto Andina
			17.3.4 Upper Magdalena Valley
			17.3.5 Upper Cauca Valley
			17.3.6 Pacific Western Cordillera Montane Forest
			17.3.7 Eastern Cordillera Montane Forest
			17.3.8 S. Ecuador / N. Peru Transitional High Andes

	18. Central Andes
		18.1 Central High Andes/Puna
			18.1.1 High Andes / Humid Puna
			18.1.2 Dry Puna / Puna de Atacama
			18.1.3 Southern Central Andes
		18.2 Altiplano
			18.2.1 Titicaca / Northern Altiplano
			18.2.2 Southern Arid Altiplano
		18.3 Yungas
			18.3.1 Northern Yungas 
			18.3.2 Southern Yungas
		18.4 Peruvian/Atacaman Deserts
			18.4.1 Northern Peruvian Desert
			18.4.2 Garua-Loma Desert
			18.4.3 Northern Chilean Desert
	1		8.4.4 Transitional Subdesert Matoral

	19. Southern Andes
    1	9.1 Mediterranean Chile
			19.1.1 Coastal Ranges
			19.1.2 Llano Central
		19.2 Valdivian Forested Hills and Mountains
			19.2.1 Valdivian Coastal Range 
			19.2.2 Central Depression
			19.2.3 Valdivian High Andes
		19.3 Fuegian Fiords and Forests
			19.3.1 Magellanic Moorland and Rainforest
			19.3.2 Fuegian High Andes / Ice Caps
		19.4 Subantarctic Islands
			19.4.1 Falklands / Islas Malvinas

	20. Amazonian-Orinocan Lowland
		20.1 Orinoco Llanos
			20.1.1 Piedmont 
			20.1.2 High Plains or Dissected Plains 
			20.1.3 Alluvial Overflow Plains / Wet Plains 
		20.2 Amazon Irregular Plains and Piedmont 
			20.2.1 Colombia Rock Mesa Amazon
			20.2.2 Napo / Putamayo Moist Forests
			20.2.3 Ucayali / Marañon Lowland
			20.2.4 Southwestern Amazonian Irregular Plains
			20.2.5 Llanos de Mojos / Beni Savanna
		20.3 Guianan Shield Moist Forests 
			20.3.1 Upper Rio Negro / Campinas area
			20.3.2 Boa Vista Depression / Rupununi Savanna
			20.3.3 Guianan Forested Plains and Hills
			20.3.4 Amapá / Roraima Plains and Tablelands
		20.4 Amazon and Coastal Lowlands
			20.4.1 Amazon Flat Plains
			20.4.2 Várzea / Igapó 
			20.4.3 Amazon Estuary and Coastal Savannas
			20.4.4 Guianan Coastal Lowland
		20.5 Brazilian Shield Moist Forests
			20.5.1 Gurupi Plains and Low Tablelands
			20.5.2 Amazon Upland Irregular Plains
			20.5.3 Mixed Forest Plains and Tablelands
			20.5.4 Upper Xingu Depression

	21. Eastern Highlands
		21.1 Guianan Highlands
			21.1.1 Guianan Uplands and Tepuis
			21.1.2 Roraima and Grand Savannas
			21.1.3 Suriname / Guyana Low Mountains
		21.2 Cerrados
			21.2.1 Northern Maranhão Plains
			21.2.2 Northern Piauí Plains
			21.2.3 Northeastern Cerrado
			21.2.4 Araguaia Depression
			21.2.5 Tocantins Hills and Tablelands
			21.2.6 Espinhaço / Diamantina Hills and Low Mountains
			21.2.7 Mato Grosso Savanna Tablelands
			21.2.8 Upper Paraguai / Guapore Plains and Hills
			21.2.9 Pantanal
			21.2.10 Chiquitos-Velasco Forested Hills and Plains
			21.2.11 Southern Cerrado Tablelands
		21.3 Caatinga
			21.3.1 Northeastern Caatinga
			21.3.2 Western Caatinga
		21.4 Atlantic Forests 
			21.4.1 Agreste / Caatinga Transition
			21.4.2 Brazilian Atlantic Coastal Forests
			21.4.3 Eastern Inland Atlantic Mixed Forests
			21.4.4 Western Inland Atlantic Mixed Forests
			21.4.5 Araucaria Tablelands

	22. Gran Chaco
		22.1 Western Dry Chaco
			22.1.1 Northern Dry Chaco
			22.1.2 Southern Dry Chaco
			22.1.3 Sierras of Cordoba and San Luis
			22.1.4 Pampa Seca / Espinal
		22.2 Humid Chaco
			22.2.1 Northern Humid Chaco
			22.2.2 Southern Humid Chaco

	23. Pampas
		23.1 Northern Rolling Pampas
			23.1.1 Campos / Northern Pampas
			23.1.2 Brazil / Uruguay Coastal Pampa
			23.1.3 Southern Uruguay Lowland
		23.2 Southern Flat Pampas
			23.2.1 La Plata / Uruguay Lowland 
			23.2.2 Inland Pampa
			23.2.3 Low Argentine Pampa
			23.2.4 Southern Pampa

	24. Monte-Patagonian
		24.1 Monte
			24.1.1 Monte
		24.2 Patagonian Tablelands
			24.2.1 Northern Patagonia
			24.2.2 Southern Patagonia 
			24.2.3 Magellan Grasslands

	25. Galapagos

			

shapefile name

USEPA and USGS EROS Data Center

Tests for integrity have not been performed.

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Downloadable Data

Although these data have been processed successfully on a computer system at the Environmental Protection Agency, 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. It is also strongly recommended that careful attention be paid to the contents of the metadata file associated with these data to evaluate data set limitations, restrictions or intended use. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency shall not be held liable for improper or incorrect use of the data described and/or contained herein.

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