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

AbstractThis 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 approximatio...