P1254156868kpEtQ

1
Oklahomas Ecoregions
Oklahomas biological diversity can be explained
in part by the states geographic location. It is
here that the forests of the moist east meet with
the dry plains of the west. Therefore the
species found in Oklahoma are a mix of eastern
and western plants and animals, some are found as
far away as the Rocky Mountains. Vegetation Is
often used as one of the defining features of a
landscape. Vegetation type is Important in
determining what animals might be living in an
area. In this activity you will investigate how
vegetation type relates to environmental factors
such as rainfall, rivers and lakes. You will also
see how each of these factors influence how
different ecoregions are determined.
Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 1
2
Oklahomas Ecoregions
Procedure

• Open ArcView by double clicking its Icon
• When ArcView opens you will choose to open an
  existing project
• Now navigate to the project that you previously
  saved. It should be located
• the M Drive.
• Open your saved project.
• Before we start now we need to add a new theme to
  our existing project.
• First click the add theme button . Then navigate
  to the following
• location Q\esri\ecoregions_project_data\game_typ
  e.shp , to add the
• game_type.shp file. Now click the checkbox next
  to all themes to show
• them on the screen
• Now we need to modify the appearance of some of
  our themes.

• First move your themes in the order indicated
• on the right by clicking and dragging them into
• position.
• Next double click the symbol below county.shp.
• This will open the legend editor window.
• Now double click the symbol. This will open the
• fill palette.

Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 2
3
Oklahomas Ecoregions

• In the fill palette select the black box
• (fill color) under the paint bucket tab.
• Next click the paint brush tab. Select
• Foreground from the pulldown menu
• next to Color. For a color select the
• white box with an X (no color). Lastly
• click apply.
• Now we can see through our counties layer
• Lets do the same thing for the game_type
• layer. Follow steps 7-10 for the game_type.shp
• layer.

Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 3
4
Oklahomas Ecoregions

• Lets start by finding the Southwestern Tablelands
  ecoregion. First make sure
• The ecoregins theme is selected in the left-hand
  column.
• Click the Open Table button.
• This will open the attributes table.
• Now we want to sort the table based on the Level
  3 name. To do this
• select the Level3_nam tab at the top right of
  the table, then click the
• sort ascending button. Now our table is sorted
  alphabetically
• by level 3 ecoregion name. Keep the table open.
• Scroll down the table until you find the
  Southwestern Tablelands. Now
• click the first entry of Southwestern
  Tablelands. It should now be yellow.
• Hold shift and click each of the remaining
  entries for Southwestern
• Tablelands. There should be 8 entries, and they
  should all now be yellow.
• After you have selected all 8, and they are
  yellow, minimize the attributes
• table by clicking the - in the upper right of
  the screen.

Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 4
5
Oklahomas Ecoregions
One of the most interesting geologic structures
in the state is Black Mesa. Black Mesa is topped
by a layer of ancient lava, which gives it its
black appearance. The Mesa is also the highest
point in the state at 4,972 feet above sea level.
Lets look at some of the vegetative features of
the Black Mesa Region.

• Black Mesa is located in Cimarron County. To find
  Cimarron county,
• first select the County.shp file to make it
  active.
• Now click the Open Theme Table button.
• Click the Name tab at the top of the page, then
  click the sort by ascending
• button. Then select Cimarron county. It should
  now be yellow.
• Now minimize the Attributes table by clicking -
  at the top right.
• Cimarron county should now be yellow. We now need
  to zoom in to that part of
• the map.
• To zoom choose the zoom in tool from the tool
  bar. Now
• click and hold to the zoom tool on the outside
  upper left hand of Cimarron
• County. You are drawing a box around the County
  with the zoom tool.
• Then release the mouse button.

Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 5
6
Oklahomas Ecoregions

• Now that we have zoomed in to Cimarron County we
  can unselect it from the
• attribute table.
• To do this select the Clear Selected Feature
  button.
• You should now be zoomed in to Cimarron County,
  and be able to see the
• features of each theme in more detail.
• Question 1 What level 3 ecoregion does the
  yellow area represent?
• Question 2 What level 4 ecoregion does the
  yellow area represent?

Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 6
7
Oklahomas Ecoregions

• Now use the identify tool to find at
  least four of the five vegetation
• types. Write the Gametype in the following
  blanks
• ___________________________
• ___________________________
• ___________________________
• ___________________________
• You will have to click around the ecoregion to
  find all five Gametypes.
• Oklahoma has a strong rainfall gradient from east
  to west. Lets look at the
• rainfall around Black Mesa.
• Question Which do you think gets more rainfall,
  east or west? (circle one)
• Click the them titled Rainfall.shp to make it
  active. Find the two contour
• lines present in Cimarron county that represent
  rainfall. They will be the
• same color of the line in the symbol. Use the
  identify tool and click each
• of the lines. The resulting table has an entry
  called contour, this is the

Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 7
8
Oklahomas Ecoregions
Question There are several streams in Cimarron
County, list the names of at least four of them
in the blanks below. __________________ __________
________ __________________ __________________ Qu
estion Are there any lakes in Cimarron county?
Yes No (Circle one) What are their
names? __________________ __________________
Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 8
9
Oklahomas Ecoregions
Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 7
10
Oklahomas Ecoregions
Oklahoma Ecoregions
p. 7