The rest of this guide focuses on localized, present-day results. A nationwide mapping initiative, the Ecological Classification System , integrates data about climate, geology, hydrology, topography, soil, and vegetation key ecological factors in determining the character of an area. Then it identifies, describes, and maps land to show its capabilities to support natural resources. This helps us better understand natural areas and their characteristics plant communities, wildlife habitat, water quality, potential for restoration, and the changes that occur over time. The ECS in Minnesota has identified three major climatic zones, called provinces or biomes.
Climate plays an important role in landscape development.
Minnesota's climate is affected in the north by Arctic air, and in the south by weather systems from the Gulf of Mexico. There is a division among the biomes, with coniferous forest in the colder northern climate, and prairie and deciduous forest most broadly distributed in the warmer, southern part of the state. Biomes are large enough to contain localized areas not entirely characteristic of the province itself. In turn, the Prairie Grasslands biome contains not only prairies, but rivers lined by flood plain forests. The ECS has further subdivided regional variations within each biome into landscape areas.