township and range system example ap human geography

The ecosphere is Earth’s largest ecosystem, and within it, matter and energy combine and recombine in infinite ways to create unique smaller ecosystems. The Earth is home to life, or in the words of Stan Rowe (1991), “Home Place.” Because it is spherical, we call this narrow band of land-water-atmosphere just below, on, and above the surface, the ecosphere. The report also describes the characteristic features of the ecozones in Ontario and their ecoregions. Subsequently, he revised the system as new information became available (see Hills, 1961, 1964, 1976) and demonstrated how the system could be used to provide a broad-scale ecological context for resource management and planning activities in Ontario.Įmploying the same philosophical approach and ecological principles that Hills’ used, this report provides information on the approach used to classify ecosystems at the two upper levels of the ELC hierarchy ecozone and ecoregion, and presents a brief overview of the evolution of the provincial ELC. In Ontario, Angus Hills developed the first comprehensive, multi-scale, hierarchical ELC describing ecosystems at two scales, distinguished by climatic patterns, physiographic differences and successional trends exhibited by the predominant vegetation type on those physiographic features (Hills, 1959). Organized into a spatial framework, ecosystems can be defined and characterized on the basis of common features such as bedrock geology or climatic features, which set them apart from other units.Įcosystem classification delineates areas of similar ecology at different scales, often within a nested or hierarchical framework. Ecosystems are recognizable because of unique interactions (functions) among the components (composition) and the patterns (structure). Ecological Land Classification ( ELC) systems are used to classify and describe ecosystems.

Township and range system example ap human geography