The Ecological Land Classification (ELC version 2015) for Nova Scotia provides a hierarchical mapping of the province's forest ecosystems into ecosections, ecodistricts and ecoregions. It includes interpretation of the dominant natural disturbance regimes and potential climax forests at the ecosection level.

This dataset is produced for the Government of Alberta and is available to the general public. Please consult the Distribution Information of this metadata for the appropriate contact to acquire this dataset. The Ecological Land Classification (ELC) Status is a supporting dataset to the Ecological Land Classification dataset. The ELC Status represents a geodatabase feature class of the ELC study areas. There is attribution to describe the scale of the study, whether there is a scanned report (.pdf), scanned map (.tif) or GIS-ready feature class available.

Ecological Land Classification (ELC) is an approach which endeavours to subdivide the landscape into significant ecological units and to organize complex interrelationships into identified geographical areas with similar properties. It is a hierarchical system that captures information at the following scales as per the Ecological Land Classification and Evaluation Reference Manual (1980): Ecoprovince - >1:3 000 000 Ecoregion - 1:1 000 000 - 1:3 000 000 Ecodistrict - 1:250 000 - 1:1 000 000 Ecosection - 1:100 000 - 1:250 000 Ecosite - 1:10 000 - 1:20 000 Ecoelement - 1:1 000 - 1:5 000. Note that the upper two levels are referred to as Natural Region and Natural Subregion in the more recent Ecological Land Classification reports. There are also some variations in this hierarchy for individual study areas. The data is available as TIFF image files packaged together with the reports and other supporting documents divided alphabetically.

Environmental Impact Statement: Forest ecosystem classification and mapping for the Eden Comprehensive Regional Assessment : a report undertaken for the NSW CRA/RFA Steering Committee : project number NA 18EH

Ecoregion - Seven New Brunswick Ecoregions delineate areas that are different with regard to climate (precipitation and temperature), based principally on elevation above sea level and marine influences. Ecodistrict - Ecodistricts are nested subdivisions of Ecoregions based on geomorphologic and lithologic differences. The correct way to quote an ecodistrict number is to quote both its ecoregion and ecodistrict numbers, separated by a dash, e.g.: 2-1 denotes the Upsalquitch Ecodistrict in the Northern Uplands Ecoregion. Ecosection - Ecosections are nested subdivisions of Ecoregions based on topographic and relief differences. The correct way to quote an ecosection number is to quote its ecoregion, ecodistrict, and ecosection numbers, each separated by a dash, e.g.: 2-1-3 denotes Ecosection 3 of the Upsalquitch Ecodistrict in the Northern Uplands Ecoregion. Ecosite - Ecosites capture individual landforms that in theory outline a single forest ecosystem type at the 1:50,000 mapping scale. They are more-or-less uniform with regard soil moisture regime, soil nutrient regime, and topoclimate. Within ecoregions, each ecosite may be presumed to have similar vegetation potential in terms of native species composition, forest cover type, and timber growth rate (although the situation on the ground often deviates from what is mapped due to mapping imprecision and/or vegetation disturbance). To most narrowly describe an ecosite’s landscape context, the correct way to label it is to quote its ecoregion, ecodistrict, ecosection, and ecosite numbers, each separated by a dash, e.g.: 2-1-3-7 denotes Ecosite 7 in Ecosection 3 of the Upsalquitch Ecodistrict (1) in the Northern Uplands Ecoregion (2). For more information, see Department of Natural Resources 2007. Our landscape heritage [electronic resource] : the story of ecological land classification in New Brunswick. General editor: Vincent F. Zelazny. -- 2nd ed.

The Ministry of Natural Resources defines ecological units on the basis of bedrock, climate (temperature, precipitation), physiography(soils, slope, aspect) and corresponding vegetation. This enhances their compatibility with national and continental classification systems. The ELC of Ontario is used for descriptive, planning, and resource management purposes. The upper levels in its hierarchy may be relevant for provincial and municipal land-use planning initiatives. The lower (finer-scale) levels of the hierarchy are most useful for detailed resource management prescriptions and other local and site planning applications. This packaged dataset is classified into 3 hierarchical categories: * Ecozone: used for national and coarse-scale provincial reporting such as analyses of climate, demographics and watersheds * Ecoregion: used for determining the significance or status of wetland classes and certain other natural heritage features (e.g., old growth forest), setting targets for Wilderness Class Provincial parks, State of the Forest reporting and studying natural disturbance regimes * Ecodistrict used for assessing biodiversity levels, defining seed zones, mapping ecosystem types and setting targets for the identification of natural heritage systems [Introduction to ecological land classification](https://www.ontario.ca/page/introduction- ecological-land-classification-systems) *[ELC]: Ecological land classification