Open Data

Ecological Land Classification (ELC)

Description

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.

Updated

May 1, 2018

Tags
ALBERTA BIOTA ECOLOGY GEOSCIENTIFICINFORMATION LANDFORM VEGETATION WETLAND
Resources

Title and Dataset Information

Alternative Title

Ecological Land Classification (ELC)

Date Modified

2018-05-01

Update Frequency

Other

Publisher / Creator Information

Publisher

Environment and Parks

Subject Information

Topic
Energy and Natural Resources Environment
Start Date

1971-01-01

End Date

2001-12-31

Spatial Coverage

-120,60,-110,49

Resource Dates

Date Created

2018-05-01

Date Added to catalogue

2020-04-30T03:24:38.898468

Date Issued

2018-05-01

Date Modified

2018-05-01

Audience information

Entrepreneur/Self-employed General Public Government Researchers Scientists

Language

English (Canadian)

Identifiers

Usage / Licence

Usage Considerations

The objective of the Ecological Land Classification mapping program is to delineate relatively homogeneous land units, based on their ecological characteristics and to describe these units such that their suitability for various land uses could be assessed in a standardized manner using a documented methodology. Ecological Land Classification information is input into planning, wildlife habitat suitability, agricultural capability and forest capability assessments.

Licence

Open Government Licence - Alberta

Contact

Contact Name

Alberta Environment and Parks, Government of Alberta

Contact Email

AEP.GDAMetadata@gov.ab.ca