Ecological Classification System Levels

DIVISION
Divisions are subdivisions of Domains with similar characteristics such as:
 


Figure 2 shows the fourteen division units within the United States and three within Minnesota: Warm Continental, Hot Continental, and Prairie.


                                          Figure 2

In Minnesota, the Warm Continental Division has temperatures between 32° to 72° F (0° to 22° C); this division has strong seasonal contrasts in temperature (cold, snowy winters with warm, humid summers).  In Minnesota, the boundaries for the division level and the next level down, the province, are the same.  In many parts of the U.S., the province level subdivides the division level. 

The division level can be useful for broad regional or multi-country planning.  One example in natural resources planning is the Lake States Assessment, a cooperative planning effort between some of the states bordering the Great Lakes: Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Michigan.
 

                                go to Province level