permaculture

["Lawrence F. London, Jr." <lflj@bellsouth.net>]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject:        USDA Unveils New Plant Hardiness Zone Map
Date:   Wed, 25 Jan 2012 11:08:58 -0500
From:   ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
Reply-To:       ARS News Service <NewsService@ars.usda.gov>
To:     ARS News subscriber <lflj@bellsouth.net>
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ARS News Service
Agricultural Research Service, USDA
--View this report online, plus photos and related stories, at
www.ars.usda.gov/is/pr
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Photo: The new USDA Plant hardiness Zone Map. Link to map.
<http://www.planthardiness.ars.usda.gov>
The new USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map is more sophisticated and accurate
than any other previously developed./Click the image for link to zone
map web site./


    USDA Unveils New Plant Hardiness Zone Map

By Kim Kaplan </is/contacts.htm#Kim>
January 25, 2012

WASHINGTON—The U.S. Department of Agriculture
<http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usda/usdahome> (USDA) today released the
new version of its Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM), updating a useful
tool for gardners and researchers for the first time since 1990 with
greater accuracy and detail. The new map—jointly developed by USDA's
Agricultural Research Service <http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/main.htm>
(ARS) and Oregon State University <http://oregonstate.edu/>'s (OSU)
PRISM Climate Group <http://www.prism.oregonstate.edu/>—is available
online at www.planthardiness.ars.usda.gov
<http://www.planthardiness.ars.usda.gov>. ARS is the chief intramural
scientific research agency of USDA.

For the first time, the new map offers a Geographic Information System
(GIS)-based interactive format and is specifically designed to be
Internet-friendly. The map website also incorporates a "find your zone
by ZIP code" function. Static images of national, regional and state
maps also have been included to ensure the map is readily accessible to
those who lack broadband Internet access.

"This is the most sophisticated Plant Hardiness Zone Map yet for the
United States," said Catherine Woteki
<http://www.ree.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=22&tax_level=2&tax_subject=716&level3_id=0&level4_id=0&level5_id=0&topic_id=2609&&placement_default=0>, 

USDA Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics
<http://www.ree.usda.gov/nal_display/index.php?info_center=22&tax_level=1>.
"The increases in accuracy and detail that this map represents will be
extremely useful for gardeners and researchers."

Plant hardiness zone designations represent the average annual extreme
minimum temperatures at a given location during a particular time
period. They do not reflect the coldest it has ever been or ever will be
at a specific location, but simply the average lowest winter temperature
for the location over a specified time. Low temperature during the
winter is a crucial factor in the survival of plants at specific locations.

The new version of the map includes 13 zones, with the addition for the
first time of zones 12 (50-60 degrees Fahrenheit) and 13 (60-70 degrees
Fahrenheit). Each zone is a 10-degree Fahrenheit band, further divided
into 5-degree Fahrenheit zones "A" and "B."

To help develop the new map, USDA and OSU requested that horticultural
and climatic experts review the zones in their geographic area, and
trial versions of the new map were revised based on their expert input.

Compared to the 1990 version, zone boundaries in this edition of the map
have shifted in many areas. The new map is generally one 5-degree
Fahrenheit half-zone warmer than the previous map throughout much of the
United States. This is mostly a result of using temperature data from a
longer and more recent time period; the new map uses data measured at
weather stations during the 30-year period 1976-2005. In contrast, the
1990 map was based on temperature data from only a 13-year period of
1974-1986.

However, some of the changes in the zones are a result of new, more
sophisticated methods for mapping zones between weather stations. These
include algorithms that considered for the first time such factors as
changes in elevation, nearness to large bodies of water, and position on
the terrain, such as valley bottoms and ridge tops. Also, the new map
used temperature data from many more stations than did the 1990 map.
These advances greatly improved the accuracy and detail of the map,
especially in mountainous regions of the western United States. In some
cases, they resulted in changes to cooler, rather than warmer, zones.

While about 80 million American gardeners, as well as those who grow and
breed plants, are the largest users of the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone
Map, many others need this hardiness zone information. For example, the
USDA Risk Management Agency <http://www.rma.usda.gov/> uses the USDA
plant hardiness zone designations to set some crop insurance standards.
Scientists use the plant hardiness zones as a data layer in many
research models such as modeling the spread of exotic weeds and insects.

Although a poster-sized version of this map will not be available for
purchase from the government as in the past, anyone may download the map
free of charge from the Internet onto their personal computer and print
copies of the map as needed.

As USDA's chief scientific research agency, ARS is leading America
towards a better future through agricultural research and information.
ARS conducts research to develop and transfer solutions to help answer
agricultural questions that impact Americans every day. ARS research
helps to:

  * ensure high-quality, safe food and other agricultural products;
  * assess the nutritional needs of Americans;
  * sustain a competitive agricultural economy;
  * enhance the natural resource base and the environment; and
  * provide economic opportunities for rural citizens, communties and
    society as a whole.

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USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer and lender. To file a
complaint of discrimination, write: USDA, Director, Office of Civil
Rights, 1400 Independence Ave., S.W., Washington, D.C. 20250-9410 or
call (800) 795-3272 (voice), or (202) 720-6382 (TDD).

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ARS News Service, Information Staff, Agricultural Research Service
5601 Sunnyside Ave., Room 1-2251, Beltsville MD 20705-5128
NewsService@ars.usda.gov | www.ars.usda.gov/news
Phone (301) 504-1636 | fax (301) 504-1486