Bioclimatic classification of US vegetation along a coast-to-coast macrotransect crossing central United States. I: Mediterranean vegetation

Abstract

This report presents the first of two parts of a bioclimatic classification of the vegetation of the United States. Using a geographical information system, 987 weather stations were located along a longitudinal macrotransect from the shores of the Atlantic to Pacific on four maps: Map of the Physiographic Divisions of the Conterminous US, US Potential Natural Vegetation Map, US Ecoregion Map, and Terrestrial Ecosystems-Isobioclimates Map of the Conterminous United States. Based on these maps, bibliographic resources and field data, we deduced the potential natural vegetation (PNV) of each weather station; then, we assigned the different PNV types to alliance or association levels using the US National Vegetation Classification (USNVC). In a next step, USNVC groups were related with similar level phytosociological syntaxa described in the study area. The bioclimatic distribution of the USNVC units defined was then interpreted using the bioclimatic classification proposed in successive approximations by S. Rivas-Martínez. The distribution of USNVC alliances was mainly linked to the macrobioclimates (Mediterranean, Temperate, and Tropical) of the longitudinal gradient examined, though some edaphic factors induced the appearance of specialized plant groups. Herein, we present our data for the Mediterranean macrobioclimate, in which 53 alliances and 28 isobioclimates were identified.

Keywords:

• Bioclimatology
• biogeography
• North American plant communities
• North American potential natural vegetation
• Rivas-Martínez bioclimatic classification
• United States national vegetation classification
• vegetation gradients

Abbreviations:

• AL: Alliance
• AS: Association
• EPA: United States Environmental Protection Agency
• G: Group
• MB: Macrobioclimate
• MG: Macrogroup
• PNV: Potential Natural Vegetation
• RMC: Rivas-Martínez et al. bioclimatic classification
• US: United States
• USNVC: United States National Vegetation Classification

Acknowledgments

We thank Ana Burton BSc for help with the English translation.

Notes

1. Of the 987 stations, only 697 have temperature and precipitation records. These were the stations used in our bioclimatic analysis. For the remaining stations, their respective bioclimates were obtained from the isobioclimate map by Cress et al. (2009).