Ecoregions denote areas of general similarity in ecosystems and
in the type, quality, and quantity of environmental resources;
they are designed to serve as a spatial framework for the
research, assessment, management, and monitoring of ecosystems
and ecosystem components. Ecoregions are directly applicable to
the immediate needs of state agencies, such as the Tennessee
Department of Environment and Conservation (TDEC), for selecting
regional stream reference sites and identifying high-quality
waters, developing ecoregion-specific chemical and biological
water quality criteria and standards, and augmenting TDEC’s
watershed management approach. Ecoregion frameworks are also
relevant to integrated ecosystem management, an ultimate goal of
most federal and state resource management agencies. The
approach used to compile this map is based on the premise that
ecological regions can be identified through the analysis of the
patterns and the composition of biotic and abiotic phenomena
that affect or reflect differen