Abstract
New Mexico Ecoregions Level III: An Overlay Evaluation Track: Environmental Management Author(s): Michael DeMers The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently produced a second approximation of its Level III Ecoregions Map of New Mexico. As part of a diverse team of scientists asked to evaluate its correctness I used ArcGIS to compare the polygons to a variety of physical parameters and alternative environmental classification schemes to evaluate both the ecological plausibility and the cartographic reasonableness of the polygonal boundaries. By selectively overlaying the preliminary ecoregions map with recent digital map data of geology, hydrology, elevation, orthophotography, GAP maps, and others at a variety of scales I was able analyze the polygonal boundaries individually. Areal correspondence analysis and detailed visual inspection of intermediate maps provided critical information for this evaluation and enabled the enumeration of specific defensible suggested changes for production of the final map. Michael DeMers New Mexico State University Geography 5435 Remington Rd. Las Cruces , NM 88011 US Phone: (505) 646-1842 Fax: (505) 497-8408 E-mail: mdemers@zianet.com |
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