Ecoregions of the Pacific Northwest

Identified through the analysis and patterns of composition of biotic and abiotic factors of an area.

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1

#1 Coast Range• Highest Peak, 4000 feet Mary’s Peak• Average Height 1,500 feet• Highly productive coniferous forest• Sitka Spruce (historically dominated), Coastal Redwood• Most common trees are the big three: Western Redcedar, Western

Hemlock, Douglas-Fir (planted)

#1 Coast Range

2

#2 Puget Lowlands• Seattle - Puget Sound Estuary• Formed from a glacial trough• Glaciation occurred as recently as 15,000 years ago• Ice sheet up to 3,000 feet thick near Seattle

#2 Puget Lowlands

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#3 Willamette Valley• Rolling prairies• Mixed forests: coniferous and broadleaves• Oregon White Oak• Great topsoil as a result of historic ice-age floods• Temperate• Highly productive soils, Fluvial Terraces, Floodplains

#3 Willamette Valley

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#4 Cascades• Volcanic • Average height: 5,000 feet• Highest Peak: Mt. Rainier 14,411 feet• Rivers flow west• Coniferous • Steep ridges due to glaciers

#4 Cascades

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#5 Eastern Cascades Slope• Rainshadow (leeward)• Open Forest• Ponderosa, Lodgepole, Aspen

#5 Eastern Cascade Slope

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#6 Columbia Plateau• Wheat land• Arid Grassland• Result of volcanism

#6 Columbia Plateau

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#7 Blue Mountains• Wallowa Mountains• Not as high as the Rockies of Cascades• Average height: 4,000 feet• Volcanic in origin• Cattle grazing• Sagebrush, Pine, Aspen

#7 Blue Mountains

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#8 North Basin and Range• Steens Mountains –Uplift• Cattle and sheep grazing• Arid • Sagebrush

#8 North Basin and Range

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#9 Snake River Plain• Agricultural Land• River used for irrigation• Sagebrush in areas not irrigated

#9 Snake River Plain

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#10 Rocky Mountains• 14,400 highest peak• Average height: 7,000• Uplift• Span from Canada to Mexico

#10 Rocky Mountains

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#11 Klamath Mountains• Uplift• Siskiyou Mountains• Runs into California

#11 Klamath Mountains