The graphic portrayal of spatial distributions of vegetation, ecosystems, or their characteristics. Vegetation is one of the most conspicuous and characteristic features of the landscape and has long been a convenient way to distinguish different regions. Because vegetation provides the basic framework of terrestrial ecosystems, maps of ecosystems and biomes have been mainly vegetation maps. Resources generally must be inventoried and mapped before they can be well managed. Thus, as pressure on the Earth's natural resources grows and as natural ecosystems are increasingly disturbed, degraded, and in some cases replaced completely, the mapping of vegetation and ecosystems, at all scales and by various methods, has become more common and important.