Level IV Eco Regions for New Mexico
Metadata from the RGIS Metadata Repository
Identification Information
- Title Level IV Eco Regions for New Mexico
- Date 2014-01-28
- Date Type Publication
- Cited Responsible Party
-
- Organization Name US Environmental Protection Agency
- Role identify
- Presentation Form vector digital data
- Abstract Ecoregions by state were extracted from the seamless national shapefile. Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in
ecosystems and in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources. They are designed to serve as a spatial framework
for the research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems and ecosystem components. These general purpose regions
are critical for structuring and implementing ecosystem management strategies across federal agencies, state agencies, and
nongovernment organizations that are responsible for different types of resources within the same geographical areas. The
approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of
patterns of biotic and abiotic phenomena, including geology, physiography, vegetation, climate, soils, land use, wildlife,
and hydrology. The relative importance of each characteristic varies from one ecological region to another. A Roman numeral
hierarchical scheme has been adopted for different levels for ecological regions. Level I is the coarsest level, dividing
North America into 15 ecological regions. Level II divides the continent into 50 regions (Commission for Environmental Cooperation
Working Group, 1997). At Level III, the continental United States contains 105 regions whereas the conterminous United States
has 85 (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2011). Level IV ecoregions are further subdivisions of Level III ecoregions.
Methods used to define the ecoregions are explained in Omernik (1995, 2004), Omernik and others (2000), and Gallant and others
(1989).
Literature cited:
Commission for Environmental Cooperation Working Group, 1997, Ecological regions of North America- toward a common perspective:
Montreal, Commission for Environmental Cooperation, 71 p.
Gallant, A. L., Whittier, T.R., Larsen, D.P., Omernik, J.M., and Hughes, R.M., 1989, Regionalization as a tool for managing
environmental resources: Corvallis, Oregon, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, EPA/600/3-89/060, 152p.
Omernik, J.M., 1995, Ecoregions - a framework for environmental management, in Davis, W.S. and Simon, T.P., eds., Biological
assessment and criteria-tools for water resource planning and decision making: Boca Raton, Florida, Lewis Publishers, p.49-62.
Omernik, J.M., Chapman, S.S., Lillie, R.A., and Dumke, R.T., 2000, Ecoregions of Wisconsin: Transactions of the Wisconsin
Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, v. 88, p. 77-103.
Omernik, J.M., 2004, Perspectives on the nature and definitions of ecological regions: Environmental Management, v. 34, Supplement
1, p. s27-s38.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 2011. Level III and IV ecoregions of the continental United States. U.S. EPA, National
Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory, Corvallis, Oregon, Map scale 1:3,000,000. Available online at: http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions/level_iii_iv.htm.
Comments and questions regarding Ecoregions 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
- Purpose Ecoregion maps assist managers of aquatic and terrestrial resources to understand the regional patterns of the realistically
attainable quality of these resources
- Supplemental Information Electronic versions of ecoregion maps and posters as well as other ecoregion resources are available at: http://www.epa.gov/wed/pages/ecoregions.htm.
Except for the Great Lakes, waterbodies were merged with surrounding ecoregion polygons, especially along coastlines. Ecoregions
were digitized at 1:250,000 scale and are intended for large geographic extents (i.e. states, multiple counties, or river
basins). Use for smaller areas, such as individual counties or a 1:24,000 scale map boundary, is not recommended.
- Status Complete
- Point of Contact
-
- Individual Name
- Organization Name U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research
Laboratory (NHEERL)
- Position Name
- Role Point of contact
- Voice (541) 754-4469
- Facsimile
- Address
-
- Delivery Point 200 S.W. 35th Street
- City Corvallis
- Administrative Area OR
- Postal Code 97333
- Country
- Electronic Mail Address weber.marc@epa.gov
- Maintenance and Update Frequency As needed
- Descriptive Keywords biota, boundaries, environment, Ecosystem, Environment, Natural Resources
- Access Constraints None
- Use Constraints None
- Language English
- Topic Category
- Extent
-
- Geographic Bounding Box
-
- West Bound -110.0224491
- East Bound -102.547958
- North Bound 37.498166
- South Bound 31.239256
- Temporal Extent
-
- DateTime 2012-05-08
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Distribution Information
- Distributor
-
- Individual Name
- Organization Name Earth Data Analysis Center
- Position Name Clearinghouse Manager
- Role Point of contact
- Voice 505-277-3622 ext. 230
- Facsimile 505-277-3614
- Address
-
- Delivery Point MSC01 1110
- Delivery Point 1 University of New Mexico
- City Albuquerque
- Administrative Area NM
- Postal Code 87131-0001
- Country USA
- Electronic Mail Address clearinghouse@edac.unm.edu
- Transfer Options
-
- Online Resource ZIP
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Spatial Reference Information
- Spatial References
-
- Spatial Reference D_WGS_1984
-
- Online Reference EPSG:4326
- Spatial Reference WGS_1984
-
- Online Reference EPSG:4326
- Indirect Spatial Reference New Mexico
- Geometric Object Type GT-polygon composed of chains
- Geometric Object Count 239
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Data Quality Information
- Attribute Accuracy Report
-
- Report Not available
- Quantitative Attribute Accuracy Assessment
-
- Attribute Accuracy Value
- Attribute Accuracy Explanation
- Horizontal Positional Accuracy Report
-
- Report Data were collected using methods that have unknown accuracy (EPA National Geospatial Data Policy [NGDP] Accuracy Tier 10).
For more information, please see EPA's NGDP at http://epa.gov/geospatial/policies.html
- Quantitative Horizontal Positional Accuracy Assessment
-
- Horizontal Positional Accuracy Value
- Horizontal Positional Accuracy Explanation
- Logical Consistency Report Although ecoregion polygons and attributes have been checked for accuracy, some errors may remain. Polygons along state borders
were reviewed and updated, May 2010. ARC/INFO software is used to create and maintain topological relationships.
- Completeness Report Unknown
- Lineage
-
- Source Information
-
- Source Citation
- Source Scale Denominator
- Type of Source Media online
- Source Time Period of Content
-
- DateTime 2012
- Source Currentness Reference Unknown
- Source Citation Abbreviation US EPA
- Source Contribution Level IV Eco Regions of New Mexico
- Process Step
-
- Process Description The Level IV ecoregions for New Mexico data are downloaded and reprojected to WGS_1984 coordinate system.
- Process Date 2014-01-20
- Process Time
- Process Contact
-
- Individual Name
- Organization Name Earth Data Analysis Center
- Position Name Clearinghouse Manager
- Role Point of contact
- Voice 505-277-3622 ext. 230
- Facsimile 505-277-3614
- Address
-
- Delivery Point MSC01 1110
- Delivery Point 1 University of New Mexico
- City Albuquerque
- Administrative Area NM
- Postal Code 87131-0001
- Country USA
- Electronic Mail Address clearinghouse@edac.unm.edu
- Process Step
-
- Process Description 1) U.S.G.S. 1:250,000 topographic maps are used to delineate the ecoregions. The lines drawn are manually digitized or scanned
to produce georeferenced electronic files. 2) All base maps are joined together and errors along the edges are resolved. 3)
Topology is established and the maps are reviewed for accuracy, completeness, and conformity with the original lines. Corrections
are made as needed and topology regenerated. 4) Attributes are added. 5) Maps are plotted for visual inspection by two individuals
and necessary changes made. 6) Ecoregions from all available states are merged and dissolved to identify and correct inconsistencies.
7) Polygons of the corrected seamless ecoregion features are extended beyond the coastal borders. 8) State and Ecoregion datasets
are intersected. 9) Topology errors removed. 10) Final QA. 11) Select State from national geodatabase. 12) metadata creation.
- Process Date 2011
- Process Time
- Process Contact
-
- Individual Name
- Organization Name U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Research and Development, National Health and Environmental Effects Research
Laboratory (NHEERL)
- Position Name GIS Analyst
- Role Point of contact
- Voice (541) 754-4469
- Facsimile
- Address
-
- Delivery Point 200 S.W. 35th Street
- City Corvallis
- Administrative Area OR
- Postal Code 97333
- Country
- Electronic Mail Address weber.marc@epa.gov
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Metadata Reference Information
- File Identifier 16e30184-c975-4221-a674-a9bae784c010
- Metadata Language English
- Hierarchy Level Dataset
- Date Stamp 2025-04-19
- Metadata Standard Name ISO 19115:2003
- Metadata Standard Version 1.0
- Metadata Contact
-
- Individual Name
- Organization Name Earth Data Analysis Center
- Position Name Clearinghouse Manager
- Role Point of contact
- Voice 505-277-3622 ext. 230
- Facsimile 505-277-3614
- Address
-
- Delivery Point MSC01 1110
- Delivery Point 1 University of New Mexico
- City Albuquerque
- Administrative Area NM
- Postal Code 87131-0001
- Country USA
- Electronic Mail Address clearinghouse@edac.unm.edu
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