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Where you are: Welcome > Watershed Information > Aquatic Habitat and Terrestrial Ecology > Ecological Land Classification : Understanding
Ecological Land Classification tries to organize, categorize and name ecosystems, similar to the way that plant characteristics are used to distinguish individual plant species. Using the factors described below (under geology, soils, physiography and vegetation), ELC can be used to map vegetation communities at varying organizational scales.
The Rideau Valley Watershed is primarily located within Site Regions 6E-11 and 6E-12 and can be further organized into three major Systems: Aquatic, Wetland, and Terrestrial (using the ELC framework for Southern Ontario). From this, terrestrial systems can, for example, be mapped into deciduous and coniferous forests and then further defined as a community such as a Fresh-Moist Sugar Maple Deciduous Forest Ecosite. The most detailed information that can be presented is for individual Ecoelements (i.e., Vegetation Types) that are most similar, based on the dominant plant communities and soil types. Using the above example, one could refine the identity of the sugar maple community as a Fresh-Moist Sugar Maple-Yellow Birch Deciduous Forest Type.
*credit: 1 Lee, H.T. et. al. 2001. Ecological Land Classification for Southern Ontario: |
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©
2003 Rideau Valley Conservation Authority