Full ecoregional plan - Conservation Gateway

An Introduction to the EcoregionThe SettingIt is difficult to identify any small number of characteristics that can adequately describethe Lower New England – Northern Piedmont ecoregion (LNE-NP) as a cohesivegeographic unit. Its long north – south axis and the lack of a single waterbody ormountain range with regional significance may be responsible, in part. For instance, theNorth Atlantic Coast ecoregion to the east is largely defined by the moderating influenceof the sea and the littoral deposits along its shore. The Northern Appalachians Ecoregionto the west and north is characterized by tall granitic massifs and the regions cold,continental climate. The LNE-NP ecoregion lacks any such strong environmentalgradient along a shore or mountain range instead being influenced by a little of bothamong other things. This lack of any clear defining feature(s) fuels a continuingdiscussion on where the regions boundaries should be drawn.The LNE-NP ecoregion includes portions of 12 states and the District of Columbia (Map1. Ecoregion boundaries). The Lower New England ecoregion extends from southernMaine and New Hampshire with their formerly glaciated, low mountain and lake studdedlandscape through the limestone valleys of western Massachusetts and Connecticut,Vermont and eastern New York. Rhode Island, eastern Massachusetts and Connecticutare distinctive in that the communities are more fire adapted including pitch pine and oakdominated forests on glacially deposited sandy till that forms a broad plain with manyponds. The Northern Piedmont in Maryland, northern Virginia and eastern Pennsylvaniawas never glaciated and is characterized by broad gently-rolling hills and valleys uponwhich dry oak woods and remnant mesophytic forests occur on remnant sites, steepslopes and ridgelines. The valleys contain significant wetlands many of which arecalcareous.Large portions of the Appalachian Mountains lie within the ecoregion including thePalisades in New York and New Jersey, the Taconics and the Berkshires inMassachusetts, New York, Vermont, and Connecticut, and the widely strewnMonadnocks of southern New Hampshire. Large rivers originating in the Appalachianscut across the Atlantic slope lowlands generally from north or west to east emptying intothe Atlantic Ocean. The Potomac, Susquehanna, Delaware, Hudson, Housatonic,Connecticut, Merrimack, and Saco Rivers provide a diversity of high- and low-energyaquatic habitats and most support conservation targets of this plan. The natural characterof the ecoregion is perhaps best seen in the 8% of the region currently within existingprotected lands, primarily state-held, including Mt. Greylock State Park in Massachusetts,Mt. Pisgah State Park in New Hampshire, Yale-Myers Forest in Connecticut, PalisadesPark in New York and New Jersey, Sterling Forest in Pennsylvania, and the PotomacGorge in Maryland and the District of Columbia.The Atlantic slope of North America was shaped by many tectonic, volcanic, and glacialevents that created a diverse geology, interesting landforms, and topographic elevationsthat range from sea-level to 3800 feet (Map 3. Bedrock Geology and Map 4.Topography). The region receives 36 – 50 inches of precipitation annually. This in turncreates a diversity of wetlands and aquatic systems. An Ecological Land Unit (ELU)analysis of the region identified 486 biophysical combinations of a potential 6303/2003 ECOREG-1