Table of Contents
County Map
Figure 1: County map of Missouri. Click on the map to see a larger version with clickable counties and a complete county list. Based on data from MSDIS (2007).
Rivers and Lakes
Figure 2: Major rivers and lakes in Missouri. Click on the map for a larger version. Modified from MDC (2007).
Natural Divisions and Sections
Figure 3: Natural divisions and sections of Missouri. Key to natural divisions and sections is contained within the main text. Click on the map to see a larger version. Modified from Thom and Wilson (1980).
- Glaciated Plains
- A. Western
- B. Grand River
- C. Eastern
- D. Lincoln Hills
- Ozark Border
- E. Missouri River
- F. Mississippi River
- Big Rivers (not marked on map)
- Upper Missouri (within Glaciated Plains)
- Lower Missouri (within Ozark Border)
- Upper Mississippi (north of Saint Louis)
- Lower Mississippi (south of Saint Louis)
- Osage Plains (G)
- Ozark Highlands
- H. Springfield Plateau
- I. Upper Ozark
- J. Saint Francois Mountains
- K. Elk River
- L. White River
- M. Lower Ozark
- Mississippi Lowlands
- N. Crowley's Ridge
- O. Lowlands
Ecoregions
Figure 4: Level I Ecoregions in Missouri and surrounding states. Modified from EPA (2008).
Figure 5: Level II Ecoregions in Missouri and surrounding states. From southeast Missouri, clockwise: 1) Mississippi Alluvial Plain, 2) Ozark Forest, 3) South-Central Semi-Arid Prairie, 4) Temperate Prairie, 5) Central Plain, 6) Southeastern Plain. Modified from EPA (2008).
Figure 6: Level III Ecoregions in Missouri and surrounding states. Click on the map to see a larger version. Modified from EPA (2008).
Figure 7: Level IV Ecoregions in Missouri and surrounding states. Key to Level IV Ecoregions is contained within the main text. Click on the map to see a larger version. Modified from EPA (2008).
An ecoregion classification system attempts to define and describe geographic regions that correspond to broad ecosystem patterns, topography, geology, soils, vegetation patterns, and the distributions of plants and animals. Omernik (1987) described ecoregions (Level III) for the conterminous United States. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (2006) is coordinating an effort to further subdivide these into Level IV regions. A similar approach was applied strictly to Missouri by Nigh and Schroeder (2002).
Level III (Figure 4) and Level IV (Figure 5) ecoregions for Missouri and surrounding states, based on Omernik (1987) are included here. Those regions marked with an asterisk (*) do not occur in Missouri but are sufficiently close to be of interest to Missouri biologists. Those regions marked with a caret (^) are contained entirely within the state’s borders.
The numbers in the following list are Level III ecoregions. The corresponding number with an alphabetic suffix indicates a Level IV ecoregion within the Level III ecoregion.
- 38. Boston Mountains*
- 38a. Upper Boston Mountains*
- 38b. Lower Boston Mountains*
- 39. Ozark Highlands
- 39a. Springfield Plateau
- 39b. Elk River Hills
- 39c. White River Hills
- 39d. Central Plateau
- 39e. Osage / Gasconade River Hills^
- 39f. Saint Francois Knobs / Basins^
- 39g. Meramec River Hills^
- 39h. Current River Hills^
- 39i. Easter Ozark Border^
- 39j. Black River Hills Border^
- 39k. Prairie Ozark Border^
- 40. Central Irregular Plains
- 40a. Loess Flats and Till Plains
- 40b. Osage Cuestas*
- 40c. Wooded Osage Plains
- 40d. Cherokee Plains
- 40e. Claypan Prairie^
- 47. Western Corn Belt Plains
- 47d. Missouri Alluvial Plain
- 47e. Steeply Rolling Loess Prairies
- 47f. Rolling Loess Prairies
- 47h. Nebraska / Kansas Loess Hills*
- 47i. Loess and Glacial Drift Hills*
- 47m. Western Loess Hills
- 71. Interior Plateau*
- 71m. Northern Shawnee Hills*
- 71n. Southern Shawnee Hills*
- 72. Interior River Valleys and Hills
- 72a. Wabash / Ohio Bottomlands*
- 72d. Upper Mississippi Alluvial Plain
- 72e. Middle Mississippi Alluvial Plain
- 72f. River Hills
- 72g. Southern Ozarkian River Bluffs*
- 72i. Western Dissected Illinoian Till Plain*
- 72j. Southern Illinoian Till Plain*
- 72k. Cretaceous Hills*
- 72l. Karstic Northern Ozarkian River Bluffs*
- 73. Mississippi Alluvial Plain
- 73a. Northern Holocene Meander Belts
- 73b. Northern Pleistocene Valley Trains*
- 73c. Saint Francis Lowlands
- 73f. Western Lowlands Holocene Meander Belts
- 73g. Western Lowlands Pleistocene Valley Trains
- 74. Mississippi Valley Loess Plains
- 74a. Bluff Hills
- 74b. Loess Plains
Literature Cited
- Envrionmental Protection Agency (EPA). 2007. <http://www.epa.gov/> Accessed 1 February 2007.
- Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC). 2007. <http://www.mdc.mo.gov/> Accessed 1 February 2007.
- Missouri Spatial Data Information Service (MSDIS). 2007. <http://www.msdisweb.missouri.edu/> Accessed 1 February 2007.
- Nigh, T.A. and W.A. Schroeder. 2002. Atlas of Missouri Ecoregions. Missouri Department of Conservation, Jefferson City. 212pp.
- Omernik, J.M. 1987. Ecoregions of the conterminous United States. Map Supplement (scale 1:7,500,000). Annals of the Association of American Geographers 77(1): 118-125.
- Thom, R.H. and J.H. Wilson. 1980. The natural divisions of Missouri. Transactions of the Missouri Academy of Science 14:9-23.