Author : David J. B. Baldwin
Publisher : Sault Ste. Marie : Ontario Forest Research Institute
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 80 pages
Book Rating : 4.:/5 (319 download)
Book Synopsis A Quantitative Basis for Using Ontario's Existing Ecoregionalization Systems by : David J. B. Baldwin
Download or read book A Quantitative Basis for Using Ontario's Existing Ecoregionalization Systems written by David J. B. Baldwin and published by Sault Ste. Marie : Ontario Forest Research Institute. This book was released on 1998 with total page 80 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ecoregionalization systems used in resource management stratify terrestrial or aquatic ecosystems and attempt to simplify ecological complexity. They provide an ecologically based alternative to arbitrary administrative planning units and a logical basis for forest resource & protected area planning, assessing biodiversity, monitoring ecosystems, and stratifying sample areas for research. This report examines the regional-level units of the three ecoregionalization systems available for Ontario: Hills Site Regions (Hills, 1959); Terrestrial Ecoregions of Ontario (Wickware & Rubec, 1989); and Revised Terrestrial Ecoregions (Ecological Stratification Working Group, 1995). The objective is to quantify these systems using a multivariate set of geoclimatic variables and to determine the effectiveness of these systems in stratifying different ecological conditions in the province. The report provides descriptive statistics & principal components analysis of each regional unit, compares multivariate distances & geologic similarity among units, and examines gradients of geoclimatic variables across unit boundaries. Strengths & weaknesses of each system in delineating groups of variables (temperature, precipitation, geology, terrain) are discussed along with the implications for using existing systems & future ecoregionalization development.