![]() Nevertheless, a robust range of reptile and amphibian species are distributed throughout the state, having evolved to live efficiently in almost complete hiding. Rapidly increasing populations and urbanization continue to mar remaining natural habitats. The Chicago Herpetological Society reports that within the last century nearly all of the indigenous prairie was turned into agricultural land (Barten, 2013). Unfortunately, much of the original habitats found in Illinois have been domesticated, destroyed by man. A study by Smith (1961) divided the two main ecosystems into seven defined herpetological sub-areas: grand prairie, outlier prairie, sand prairie, northeastern mesic forest, western division, southern division, and river borders. At Level III, it is split into two more ecoregions: the Central Corn Belt Plains and Interior River Valleys and Hills (EPA, 2016). Illinois is a large centrally-located state, measuring 385 miles from north to south and 215 miles from east to west (Barten, 2013). In North America, the two main Level I ecoregions of the Midwestern United States are the Great Plains and Eastern Temperate Forests of those two, Illinois has been entirely placed in the Eastern Temperate Forests Level I ecoregion (EPA, 2016). ![]() Each ecoregion may play host to a number of species of herpetofauna, some of which may be more particular to their regions than others. As such, North America can be divided into 15 broad Level I ecoregions, 50 more detailed Level II ecoregions, and still 182 more specific Level III ecoregions (EPA, 2016). The positioning of the North American continent on the globe makes it susceptible to a uniquely diverse variety of atmospheric conditions, creating an equally diverse variety of ecosystems.
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