﻿LIFE 
  ZONES 
  OF 
  NEW 
  YORK 
  STATE 
  

  

  With 
  reference 
  to 
  the 
  distribution 
  of 
  plant 
  and 
  animal 
  life 
  in 
  North 
  

   America, 
  Dr 
  C. 
  Hart 
  Merriam 
  has 
  proposed 
  to 
  divide 
  the 
  continent 
  into 
  

   Boreal, 
  Austral 
  and 
  Tropical 
  "regions"^ 
  of 
  which 
  the 
  first 
  two 
  are 
  represented 
  

   in 
  New 
  York. 
  He 
  has 
  further 
  divided 
  these 
  regions 
  into 
  "zones" 
  ;■ 
  the 
  Boreal 
  

   region 
  into 
  the 
  Arctic, 
  Hudsonian 
  and 
  Canadian 
  zones; 
  and 
  the 
  Austral 
  

   region 
  into 
  the 
  Transition, 
  Upper 
  Austral, 
  and 
  Lower 
  Austral 
  zones. 
  These 
  

   zones 
  of 
  the 
  Austral 
  region 
  are 
  again 
  divided 
  into 
  humid 
  or 
  eastern, 
  and 
  

   arid 
  or 
  western 
  faunal 
  areas, 
  the 
  eastern 
  subdivision 
  of 
  the 
  Transition 
  zone 
  

   being 
  called 
  the 
  AUeghanian 
  faunal 
  area, 
  and 
  the 
  eastern 
  division 
  of 
  the 
  

   Upper 
  Austral 
  zone, 
  the 
  Carolinian 
  faunal 
  area. 
  These 
  terms 
  are 
  so 
  well 
  

   recognized 
  at 
  the 
  present 
  time 
  that 
  they 
  will 
  be 
  employed 
  in 
  this 
  discus- 
  

   sion 
  of 
  bird 
  distribution 
  in 
  New 
  York, 
  the 
  Carolinian, 
  the 
  AUeghanian, 
  

   and 
  the 
  Canadian 
  faunas, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  a 
  slight 
  tinge 
  of 
  the 
  Hudsonian, 
  being 
  

   represented 
  within 
  the 
  State. 
  

  

  The 
  limits 
  of 
  these 
  zones, 
  Dr 
  Merriam 
  determines 
  by 
  laws 
  of 
  temperature 
  

   control 
  [loc. 
  cit 
  . 
  p. 
  54]. 
  Taking 
  the 
  "sum 
  of 
  normal 
  mean 
  daily 
  tempera- 
  

   tures 
  above 
  43°F. 
  (6° 
  C.)" 
  as 
  determining 
  the 
  northern 
  limits 
  of 
  the 
  respec- 
  

   tive 
  zones, 
  the 
  plants 
  and 
  animals 
  of 
  the 
  Lower 
  Austral 
  require 
  an 
  annual 
  

   total 
  of 
  at 
  least 
  18000° 
  F. 
  (10000° 
  C), 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Austral 
  11500° 
  F. 
  

   (6400° 
  C), 
  and 
  those 
  of 
  the 
  Transition 
  10000° 
  F. 
  (5500° 
  C). 
  "The 
  south- 
  

   ward 
  distribution 
  is 
  governed 
  by 
  the 
  mean 
  temperature 
  of 
  a 
  brief 
  period 
  

   during 
  the 
  hottest 
  part 
  of 
  the 
  year," 
  the 
  "normal 
  mean 
  temperature 
  of 
  

   the 
  six 
  hottest 
  consecutive 
  weeks" 
  furnishing 
  a 
  satisfactory 
  basis 
  of 
  deter- 
  

   mination. 
  Thus 
  the 
  southern 
  limit 
  of 
  the 
  Hudsonian 
  is 
  estimated 
  to 
  be 
  

   the 
  isotherm 
  for 
  the 
  six 
  hottest 
  weeks 
  of 
  57.2° 
  F. 
  (14° 
  C), 
  while 
  the 
  southern 
  

   limit 
  of 
  the 
  Canadian 
  is 
  found 
  to 
  be 
  64°. 
  4 
  F. 
  (18° 
  C), 
  of 
  the 
  Transition 
  

   71°. 
  6 
  F. 
  (22° 
  C), 
  of 
  the 
  Upper 
  Austral 
  78°. 
  8 
  F. 
  (26° 
  C). 
  The 
  actual 
  dis- 
  

  

  'The 
  Geographic 
  Distribution 
  of 
  Life 
  in 
  North 
  America. 
  Smithsonian 
  Inst. 
  Rep't, 
  1891, 
  p. 
  365-413. 
  

   ^XJ. 
  S. 
  Dep't 
  Agric, 
  Biol. 
  Bur., 
  Bui. 
  10, 
  1S98, 
  p. 
  18-31. 
  

  

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