Ecoregion - Seven New Brunswick Ecoregions delineate areas that are different with regard to climate (precipitation and temperature), based principally on elevation above sea level and marine influences.
Ecodistrict - Ecodistricts are nested subdivisions of Ecoregions based on geomorphologic and lithologic differences. The correct way to quote an ecodistrict number is to quote both its ecoregion and ecodistrict numbers, separated by a dash, e.g.: 2-1 denotes the Upsalquitch Ecodistrict in the Northern Uplands Ecoregion.
Ecosection - Ecosections are nested subdivisions of Ecoregions based on topographic and relief differences. The correct way to quote an ecosection number is to quote its ecoregion, ecodistrict, and ecosection numbers, each separated by a dash, e.g.: 2-1-3 denotes Ecosection 3 of the Upsalquitch Ecodistrict in the Northern Uplands Ecoregion.
Ecosite - Ecosites capture individual landforms that in theory outline a single forest ecosystem type at the 1:50,000 mapping scale. They are more-or-less uniform with regard soil moisture regime, soil nutrient regime, and topoclimate. Within ecoregions, each ecosite may be presumed to have similar vegetation potential in terms of native species composition, forest cover type, and timber growth rate (although the situation on the ground often deviates from what is mapped due to mapping imprecision and/or vegetation disturbance). To most narrowly describe an ecosite’s landscape context, the correct way to label it is to quote its ecoregion, ecodistrict, ecosection, and ecosite numbers, each separated by a dash, e.g.: 2-1-3-7 denotes Ecosite 7 in Ecosection 3 of the Upsalquitch Ecodistrict (1) in the Northern Uplands Ecoregion (2).
For more information, see Department of Natural Resources 2007. Our landscape heritage [electronic resource] : the story of ecological land classification in New Brunswick. General editor: Vincent F. Zelazny. -- 2nd ed.