Ecoregion Index

Oregon Ecoregions

An Ecoregion is an area of similar ecosystems. The boundaries of the Coastal Range and Cascade Range Ecoregions seem quite intuitive but I was surprised to see that the Blue Mountain Ecoregion, which gets its name from the Blue Mountains in northeastern Oregon, sprawls across most of northern and central Oregon, except for the Columbia (River) Plateau.

Driving east of Bend along Highway 20, the scenery is that of the “high desert” and the most evident plants (from a speeding car) are sagebrush, rabbitbrush, and juniper, so I would have guessed Northern Basin & Range Ecoregion . . . but from looking at the map, I think I might be in the Blue Mountain Ecoregion—without highways marked, it’s hard to tell.

The links below will take you to summaries of my blog posts located within these Ecoregions.

North American Ecoregion map

OREGON

Blue Mountains
Eastern Cascades
Cascades
Northern Basin & Range
Coast Range
Willamette Valley []
Columbia Plateau
Snake River Plains []
Klamath Mountains []

ECOREGION MAPS

Ecoregion maps of Oregon and North American (as well as the other states) can be viewed and downloaded on the EPA web site. Definitions of Ecoregions used for mapping are on the National Atlas website.

Posts in other Ecoregions:

Sonoran Basin & Range (California)