Vol. 34 , No. 2, Fall/Winter 1996 - "The Pennsylvania Geographer"

ECOREGIONS OF PENNSYLVANIA

Alan J. Woods

James M. Omernik

Abstract

Ecoregion frameworks are tools for inventorying and assessing environmental resources, for setting resource management goals, and for developing both biological criteria and water quality standards. In this paper, we have refined Pennsylvania's ten level III ecological regions (Omernik, 1987) and divided them into 28 level IV ecoregions. These ecoregions are mapped in Figure 1 and are described and differentiated in the text. The resulting ecoregion framework is methodologically consistent with those developed elsewhere by the U.S. EPA and allows biologists and resource managers to share and compare environmental data across political boundaries.