Ecological land classification - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Ecological land classification is defined as being a cartographical delineation of distinct ecological

Ecology

Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...

areas, identified by their geology

Geology

Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

, topography

Topography

Topography is the study of Earth's surface shape and features or those ofplanets, moons, and asteroids...

, soil

Soil

Soil is a natural body consisting of layers of mineral constituents of variable thicknesses, which differ from the parent materials in their morphological, physical, chemical, and mineralogical characteristics...

s, vegetation

Vegetation

Vegetation is a general term for the plant life of a region; it refers to the ground cover provided by plants. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular taxa, life forms, structure, spatial extent, or any other specific botanical or geographic characteristics. It is broader...

, climate

Climate

Climate encompasses the statistics of temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, wind, rainfall, atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elemental measurements in a given region over long periods...

conditions, living species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

, habitat

Habitat

* Habitat , a place where a species lives and grows*Human habitat, a place where humans live, work or play** Space habitat, a space station intended as a permanent settlement...

s, water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

resources, as well as anthropic factors. These factors control and influence biotic composition and ecological processes.

Types

Many different lists and ecological land classification schemes have been developed.

Biogeography
Biogeography
Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...

- Biogeographical provinces take into account both flora and fauna.
Phytogeography
Phytogeography
Phytogeography , also called geobotany, is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of plant species...

- from Greek words phyto = plant
Plant
Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

and geography
Geography
Geography is the science that studies the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. A literal translation would be "to describe or write about the Earth". The first person to use the word "geography" was Eratosthenes...

meaning also distribution, concerned with the geographic distribution of plant species.
Botany
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...

- botanists have identified floristic province
Floristic province
A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both regions overlap...

s based on flora
Flora
Flora is the plant life occurring in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring or indigenous—native plant life. The corresponding term for animals is fauna.-Etymology:...

-plant communities
Zoology
Zoology
Zoology |zoölogy]]), is the branch of biology that relates to the animal kingdom, including the structure, embryology, evolution, classification, habits, and distribution of all animals, both living and extinct...

- zoologists have identified zoogeographic provinces based on fauna
Fauna
Fauna or faunæ is all of the animal life of any particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is flora.Zoologists and paleontologists use fauna to refer to a typical collection of animals found in a specific time or place, e.g. the "Sonoran Desert fauna" or the "Burgess shale fauna"...

l communities.
Conservation
Conservation ethic
Conservation is an ethic of resource use, allocation, and protection. Its primary focus is upon maintaining the health of the natural world: its, fisheries, habitats, and biological diversity. Secondary focus is on materials conservation and energy conservation, which are seen as important to...

- approximating ecosystem capacity and potentials.
Geology
Geology
Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...

and Pedology (soil study)
Pedology (soil study)
Pedology is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology...

- the physical matter and energy that constitute the Earth.

In Canada ecological land classification schemes are commonly used. Provincial authorities have adopted methods to classify ecosystems within various ecoregions of the province. Ontario is one such province that uses an extensive method to define ecological units. Improvements in hand held technology have allowed for more efficient collection of vegetation and physiological data in the field, such as with the ELC eTool.

Hierarchy of classification levels in ecology compared to other fields

This classification table shows the parallel classification terms in similar spatial scales used in the study of the biotic

Biotic component

Biotic components are the living things that shape an ecosystem. A biotic factor is any living component that affects another organism, including animals that consume the organism in question, and the living food that the organism consumes. Each biotic factor needs energy to do work and food for...

and abiotic components of ecosystems and the Earth.

From largest at top to the smallest at bottom the classification levels are:

**CLASSIFICATION LEVELS IN ECOLOGY COMPARED TO OTHER FIELDS**
	Biotic			Abiotic
ECOLOGY Ecology Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...	BIOGEOGRAPHY Biogeography Biogeography is the study of the distribution of species , organisms, and ecosystems in space and through geological time. Organisms and biological communities vary in a highly regular fashion along geographic gradients of latitude, elevation, isolation and habitat area...	ZOOGEOGRAPHY Zoogeography Zoogeography is the branch of the science of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of animal species.-External links:*: A course outline and collection of Web resources by Dr. Taylor, UBC...	PHYTOGEOGRAPHY Phytogeography Phytogeography , also called geobotany, is the branch of biogeography that is concerned with the geographic distribution of plant species...	PHYSIOGRAPHY	GEOLOGY Geology Geology is the science comprising the study of solid Earth, the rocks of which it is composed, and the processes by which it evolves. Geology gives insight into the history of the Earth, as it provides the primary evidence for plate tectonics, the evolutionary history of life, and past climates...	PEDOLOGY Pedology (soil study) Pedology is the study of soils in their natural environment. It is one of two main branches of soil science, the other being edaphology...
ecosphere Ecosphere Ecosphere has several different meanings:* In ecology the term ecosphere can refer to the Earth's spheres, a planetary ecosystem consisting of the atmosphere, the geosphere , the hydrosphere, and the biosphere....	biosphere Biosphere The biosphere is the global sum of all ecosystems. It can also be called the zone of life on Earth, a closed and self-regulating system...	zoosphere	phytosphere	physiosphere	geosphere Geosphere The term geosphere is often used to refer to the densest parts of Earth, which consist mostly of rock and regolith. The geosphere consists of the inside of the Earth or other planets or bodies....	pedosphere Pedosphere The pedosphere is the outermost layer of the Earth that is composed of soil and subject to soil formation processes. It exists at the interface of the lithosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere and biosphere. The sum total of all the organisms, soils, water and air is termed as the "pedosphere"...
ecozone Ecozone An ecozone is the broadest biogeographic division of the Earth's land surface, based on distributional patterns of terrestrial organisms.Ecozones delineate large areas of the Earth's surface within which organisms have been evolving in relative isolation over long periods of time, separated from...	biome Biome Biomes are climatically and geographically defined as similar climatic conditions on the Earth, such as communities of plants, animals, and soil organisms, and are often referred to as ecosystems. Some parts of the earth have more or less the same kind of abiotic and biotic factors spread over a...	zoozone (zoogeographic region)	floral kingdom
ecoprovince Ecoprovince An ecoprovince is a biogeographic unit smaller than an ecozone that contains one or more ecoregions. According to Demarchi , an ecoprovince encompasses areas of uniform climate, geological history and physiography . Their size and broad internal uniformity make them ideal units for the...	bioprovince	zooprovince	floral province - phytochorion		geoprovince
ecoregion Ecoregion An ecoregion , sometimes called a bioregion, is an ecologically and geographically defined area that is smaller than an ecozone and larger than an ecosystem. Ecoregions cover relatively large areas of land or water, and contain characteristic, geographically distinct assemblages of natural...	bioregion	zooregion	floral region - floristic province Floristic province A phytochorion, in phytogeography, is a geographic area with a relatively uniform composition of plant species. Adjacent phytochoria do not usually have a sharp boundary, but rather a soft one, a transitional area in which many species from both regions overlap...	physioregion	georegion	pedoregion
ecodistrict Ecodistrict An ecodistrict or eco-district is a neologism associating the terms "district" and "eco" as an abbreviation of ecological.It designates an urban planning aiming to integrate objectives of "sustainable development" and reduce the ecological footprint of the project...	biodistrict
ecosection	biosection
ecosite	biosite
ecotope Ecotope Ecotopes are the smallest ecologically-distinct landscape features in a landscape mapping and classification system. As such, they represent relatively homogeneous, spatially-explicit landscape functional units that are useful for stratifying landscapes into ecologically distinct features for the... (ecosystem Ecosystem An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight.... sensu stricto?)	biotope Biotope Biotope is an area of uniform environmental conditions providing a living place for a specific assemblage of plants and animals. Biotope is almost synonymous with the term habitat, but while the subject of a habitat is a species or a population, the subject of a biotope is a biological community.It... ‡	zootope Zootope Zootope is the total habitat available for colonisation within any certain ecotope or biotope by animal life. The community of animals so established constitutes the zoocoenosis of that ecotope.... ‡	phytotope Phytotope Phytotope is the total habitat available for colonisation within any certain ecotope or biotope by plants and fungi. The community of plants and fungi so established constitutes the phytocoenosis of that ecotope.... ‡	physiotope Physiotope Physiotope is the total abiotic matrix of habitat present within any certain ecotope. The physiotope is the landform, the rocks and the soils, the climate and the hydrology, and the geologic processes which marshalled all these resources together in a certain way and in this time and...	geotope Geotope Geotope is the geological component of the abiotic matrix present in an ecotope. Example geotopes might be: an exposed outcrop of rocks, an erratic boulder, a grotto or ravine, a cave, an old stone wall marking a property boundary, and so forth.... ‡	pedotope Pedotope Pedotope is the total soil component of the abiotic matrix present in an ecotope. The pedotope is not one particular kind of soil, nor even the dominant kind of soil available in a location, but rather the total soil component available in the location.-References:* Kratochwil, Anselm...
ecoelement	bioelement				geoelement
Sources: ‡ These words are all loanwords from German science.

External links

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Types

Hierarchy of classification levels in ecology compared to other fields

See also

External links