Skip to contents

Download and load US Level 3 Ecoregions

Source: R/get_eco.R
get_usl3eco.Rd

Downloads and loads US EPA Level 3 Ecoregion boundaries as a spatial object, optionally including state boundaries.

Usage

get_usl3eco(
  state = FALSE,
  output = c("sf", "vect", "terra"),
  cache = FALSE,
  timeout = 3600,
  verbose = TRUE,
  dry_run = FALSE,
  overwrite = FALSE
)

Arguments

state

logical(1) when TRUE, the dataset with state boundaries dissolved into the ecoregion polygons is returned. Defaults to FALSE.

output

character(1) class of the returned spatial object. Either "sf" (default) or "vect" / "terra" for a terra::SpatVector.

cache

logical(1) or character(1). Controls where the ZIP is cached. FALSE (the default) uses a temporary directory that is cleaned up when the R session ends. TRUE uses the platform user cache directory (tools::R_user_dir("fireR", "cache")). Supply a directory path as a string to specify a custom location.

timeout

numeric(1) download timeout in seconds. Default is 3600.

verbose

logical(1) print progress messages.

dry_run

logical(1) if TRUE, do not download the file but instead return the path where it would be saved. Defaults to FALSE.

overwrite

logical(1) re-download when TRUE, deleting any cached ZIP first; defaults to FALSE.

Value

An sf object or terra::SpatVector of US Level 3 Ecoregion polygons. (Or the file path invisibly if dry_run = TRUE).

About US EPA Ecoregions

The US EPA ecoregion framework classifies areas of the United States by similarity of ecosystems and environmental resources. Level 3 provides finer subdivisions of the Level 2 regions and is widely used for environmental assessment, monitoring, and reporting at regional scales. Data are sourced from the US EPA Office of Research and Development.

Examples

if (FALSE) { # \dontrun{
eco <- get_usl3eco()
eco_state <- get_usl3eco(state = TRUE)
eco_terra <- get_usl3eco(output = "vect")
} # }