Ecoregions: The Ecosystem Geography of the Oceans and Continents

184 Pages·2014·10.337 MB·English

by  Robert G. Bailey (auth.)

Robert G. Bailey
Ecoregions
The Ecosystem Geography
of the Oceans and Continents
Second Edition
Ecoregions
ThiSisaFMBlankPage
Robert G. Bailey
Ecoregions
The Ecosystem Geography
of the Oceans and Continents
Second Edition
RobertG.Bailey
RockyMountainResearchStation
USDAForestService
FortCollins,CO
USA
No copyright is claimed in works prepared by an officer or employee of the United States
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ISBN978-1-4939-0523-2 ISBN978-1-4939-0524-9(eBook)
DOI10.1007/978-1-4939-0524-9
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Dedicated to the memory of my son
Matthew Gale Bailey (1968–1998)
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Preface to the Second Edition
Thefirsteditionofthisbook(1998)classifiedandcharacterizedtheregional-
scale ecosystem units (ecoregions) of the Earth as shown on a map that
I developed with the encouragement of several international organizations.
In addition to the descriptive account, my primary goal was to suggest
explanations of the mechanisms that act to produce the world pattern of
ecoregiondistributionandtoconsidersomeoftheimplicationsforlanduse.
I included ocean types since understanding land regions depends on under-
standingoceansystems.
TheChiefoftheUSForestService,MikeDombeck,distributedthisbook
to Forest Service field offices, Washington Office staff directors, heads of
other agencies, Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior, leaders of profes-
sional societies and conservation organizations, Vice President Gore, and
select members of Congress. He wrote in his transmittal letter, “The Forest
Serviceisbeginningtolookbeyondnationalforestboundariesand,basedon
Bailey’s work, expand itshorizons to view forests from a larger ecoregion-
basedperspective.”
The increasing importance of ecoregions is confirmed by the fact that
muchplanning,research,andmanagementeffortsbytheForestService,The
Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, and other organizations are
taking place now within the framework of ecoregions. For example, in
1993,aspartoftheNationalFrameworkofEcologicalUnits,theUSForest
Serviceadoptedecoregionsforuseinecosystemmanagement.
Over the last 14 years since the book was first published, a number of
studies have greatly contributed to a better understanding of the Earth’s
ecoregions. This second edition is a completely updated and expanded
version.Themainpurposeoftherevisionistoincorporatethelatestfactual
information and the newest geographic ideas. However, it was felt that the
book would benefit from new sections that address how ecoregions are
changing under the relentless influence of humans (such as modification of
fireregimesandtheintroductionofinvasivespecies)andclimatechange,use
of ecoregional patterns to transfer research results and select sites for
detecting climate change effects on ecosystem distribution, use of
ecoregional patterns to design monitoring networks and sustainable
landscapes, and how the system used in this book compares with other
approaches.
Thisbookisintendedforseveralaudiences.Inadditiontoenvironmental
planners and decision-makers, it should be particularly useful to those
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viii PrefacetotheSecondEdition
involved with monitoring global change. For example, worldwide monitor-
ingofagriculturalandothernatural-resourceecosystemsisneededtoassess
the effects of possible climate changes and/or air pollution on our global
resource base. Monitoring of all sites is neither possible nor desirable for
large areas, and so a means of choice has to be devised and implemented.
This is where ecoregions come in. Ecoregion maps show the Earth’s land
areas subdivided into regions based on large patterns of ecosystems. These
regions define large areaswithinwhich local ecosystemsrecur inapredict-
able pattern. By observing the behavior of the different systems within a
region, it is possible to predict the behavior of an unvisited one. Hence the
mapscanbeusedtospatiallyextenddataobtainedfromlimitedsamplesites.
The results of observations at representative sample sites from each region
arepotentiallyusefulindetectingandmonitoringglobalchangeeffects.
Contentofthisrevised edition borrows heavilyfrommyprevious works
specificallybecausetherepetitionprovidestheinformationframeworknec-
essarytosupportthenewmaterial.
OnceagainIwouldliketothankmanypeoplewhomadethecompletion
of this book possible: Nancy Maysmith for re-creating many of the first
edition diagrams and drawing the several new ones; Michael Wilson,
Program Manager for Inventory, Monitoring, and Analysis at the Rocky
MountainResearchStation,forhissupport.Iappreciatethehelpfulcriticism
ofseveralreviewersofthefirstedition;butIshouldmentionespeciallyFred
Smeins, Jeffrey Walck, Philip Keating, Gary Griggs, Andrew Millington,
FrankKuserk,DavidMcNeil,andDavidScarnecchia.JamesBockheimand
Paul Jepson gave numerous helpful suggestions on the content of this new
edition. Special thanks to Kevin Cook, who did his best to make the book
readable.Asalways,ithas beenapleasuretoworkwith Janet Slobodien at
Springerintranslatingthisworktoprint.
FortCollins,CO RobertG.Bailey
December2013
Preface to the First Edition
Most environmental concerns cross boundaries. Borders that separate
countries,ecosystems,orjurisdictionofregulatoryagenciesarenotrespected
by problems such as air pollution, declining anadromous fisheries, forest
diseases,orthreatstobiodiversity.Toaddresstheseproblems,environmental
planners and decision-makers must consider how geographically related
systems are linked to form larger systems. Issues that may appear to be
localwilloftenrequiresolutionsatthelandscapeandregionscale—working
with the larger pattern, understanding how it works, and designing in har-
monywithit.
Following this reasoning, my task was to develop a geographical,
ecologically based system, which would classify the natural ecoregions of
theEarthandplottheirdistribution.Theprojectbuiltonworkpublishedby
John Crowley in 1967 (Crowley 1967). In 1989, I published a terrestrial
ecoregions map at a scale of 1:30,000,000 (Bailey 1989). A simplified,
reduced-scale version appears in my book Ecosystem Geography (Bailey
1996) and the 19th edition of Goode’s World Atlas. The influence of such
ecoregionmappingeffortsonresearchandplanningeffortshasbeenconsid-
erable.Forexample,theNationalScienceFoundation’sLong-TermEcolog-
icalResearchprogramandTheNatureConservancy’secoregionalplanning
programsaretakingplacewithintheframeworkofthismap.TheSierraClub
announced in 1994 (Sierra March–April 1994) a “critical ecoregions” pro-
gram designed to protect and restore 21 regional ecosystems in the United
States and Canada. In another effort, the United States Forest Service has
adoptedecoregionunitsaspartofanecologicallybasedmappingsystemto
supportecosystemmanagementandassessment.
Understanding the continental systems requires a grasp of the ocean
systems that exert enormous influence on terrestrial climatic patterns. This
bookisuniqueintheextendedtreatment(seeChaps.2and3,andPlate1)of
oceanicecoregions.
Ecoregionsisintendedtoprovidedetaileddescriptions,illustrations,and
examplesthatwillassisttheuseroftheecoregionmapsininterpretingthem.
It amplifies the necessarily brief descriptions of the ecoregion units which
appearinthelegendstothemaps.However,descriptionwithoutreferenceto
genesis or origin soon becomes dull and tiresome—terms which unfortu-
nately characterize much of the ecological literature on regions. A major
objective of this book, therefore, is to suggest explanations of the
mechanismswhichacttoproducetheworldpatternofecoregiondistribution,
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