State Endangered and Threatened Species

All states maintain lists of rare, threatened and endangered species through the Natural Heritage Program. Virginia's list includes the Regal Fritillary (Speyeria idalia ).

A state can have endangered and threatened species on a state list that are not endangered at the Federal or International level. A good example of this are several species of neotropical migratory birds in the southern Appalachians. These birds include warblers. For some reason the number of these birds is decreasing in the southern Appalachians, but not in other areas of their ranges.

• Identify two threatened plant and two animal species for your home state.
• Which species is located nearest to your hometown (or home if you live in a rural area)?
• What is the scientific name of this species?
• What is the status classification of this species?

State Rank

The following ranks are used by the Virginia Department of Conservation and Recreation to set protection priorities for natural heritage resources. Natural Heritage Resources, or "NHR's," are rare plant and animal species, rare and exemplary natural communities, and significant geologic features. The criterion for ranking NHR's is the number of populations or occurrences, i.e. the number of known distinct localities; the number of individuals in existence at each locality or, if a highly mobile organism (e.g., sea turtles, many birds, and butterflies), the total number of individuals; the quality of the occurrences, the number of protected occurrences; and threats.

• S1 - Extremely rare; usually 5 or fewer populations or occurrences in the state; or may be a few remaining individuals; often especially vulnerable to extirpation.
• S2 - Very rare; usually between 5 and 20 populations or occurrences; or with many individuals in fewer occurrences; often susceptible to becoming extirpated.
• S3 - Rare to uncommon; usually between 20 and 100 populations or occurrences; may have fewer occurrences, but with a large number of individuals in some populations; may be susceptible to large-scale disturbances.
• S4 - Common; usually >100 populations or occurrences, but may be fewer with many large populations; may be restricted to only a portion of the state; usually not susceptible to immediate threats.
• S5 - Very common; demonstrably secure under present conditions.
• SA - Accidental in the state.
• S#B - Breeding status of an organism within the state.
• SH - Historically known from the state, but not verified for an extended period, usually > 15 years; this rank is used primarily when inventory has been attempted recently.
• S#N - Non-breeding status within the state. Usually applied to winter resident species.
• SU - Status uncertain, often because of low search effort or cryptic nature of the element.
• SX - Apparently extirpated from the state.
• SZ - Long distance migrant whose occurrences during migration are too irregular, transitory and/or dispersed to be reliably identified, mapped and protected.

Global ranks are similar, but refer to a species' rarity throughout its total range. Global ranks are denoted with a "G" followed by a character. Note that GA and GN are not used and GX means apparently extinct. A "Q" in a rank indicates that a taxonomic question concerning that species exists. Ranks for subspecies are denoted with a "T". The global and state ranks combined (e.g. G2/S1) give an instant grasp of a species' known rarity.

These ranks should not be interpreted as legal designations.

State Legal Status

The Virginia Division of Natural Heritage uses abbreviations similar to those used by the Federal Program for classifying State endangerment.

• LE - Listed Endangered
• LT - Listed Threatened
• SC - Special Concern - animals that merit special concern according to Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (not a regulatory category)

Would you like to see a website for the State of Virginia Division of Natural Heritage? What is their ranking for Echinacea laevigata, the Purple coneflower? What do these designations mean?