Sources: IUCN, GBIF

Tools: R, QGIS

Notes: This map depicts the number of endangered species in each US state. The data in this map are based on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species which classifies organisms by their risk of global extinction. The species used to create this list are categorized as either Endangered or Critically Endangered. The data were pulled from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility which houses publicly available species occurrence data from citizen science projects such as iNaturalist and eBird as well as institutional and governmental surveys. This map includes animal, fungi, and plant species found in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. I created an older version of this map around two years ago and thought that it was due for an upgrade. I released this map today since it's the 50th anniversary of the signing of the US Endangered Species Act into law. We've come a long way, but there is still more to be done in the way of protecting species from extinction. As always if you have any praise, constructive criticism or questions, let me know! I love hearing from you all! Remember to be kind to others and as always stay awesome Reddit!

Im supprised NV is so high, I live in Vegas & I didnt know we even had 40 native spieces to be endangered.

The most shocking thing is Alaska at 33. You’d think the largest state would have more with its rapidly warming climate.

We have a lot of ecosystems. Nevada is way more than just a desert.

Great information!

I’d be curious to know:

1. How would/does the density and diversity of the animals in a state affect these numbers. Assuming something like deserts have less biodiversity than wetter areas. Is it possible to classify “total biodiversity in this area / how much of it is endangered”

2. How much does this data depend on what the state classifies as worth saying is endangered. I often hear a “joke” that california protects endangered forests louses, which is why they don’t clean forest floors before fires. I don’t take this for fact, but I would think California is more motivated to classify things as endangered then other states. Who is “reporting” what is endangered, is there bias in the state that may hide endangered species from being counted?

Hope these follow up questions help for whatever you are doing! Thanks again for the information!

Alaska has relatively low biodiversity, in part because its climate has changed so dramatically in the last 20k years.

Kinda surprised Alaska isn’t higher

Damn, Florida doesn’t surprise me cause Florida, but would have hoped California would be better since they crank so many emissions/environmental standards up to 11. Doesn’t seem to be having a positive effect though.

[removed]

[removed]

California has a lot of ecosystems. Deserts, coasts, mountains. Not many states have snowy forests and desert and beach within 90 miles.

Elvis impersonators, Dolly Parton impersonators, Wayne Newton impersonators...

Fun fact: Nevada has more native orchids than Hawaii

Deserts are extremely sensitive environments with a lot of unique wildlife and plant life. If there is a desert in a state I assume nearly everything in it is endangered.

Warning: there are two ways to lower the number of endangered species in an area.

Would love a second slide that shows the percentage of species threatened.

I'd be curious to know how many species there were to begin with and how many have already gone extinct.

Certain great plains states have basically one biome. Other states like California or Florida have a much more diverse set of biomes that can house a much larger variety of species.

It would be cool to see that represented too.

Are these including plants or only animals?

Yes this graph begs for more

Hi there! Thank you for the praise! Let me break down your questions:

1. It is possible to generate these statistics and to figure out the biodiversity and proportion of endangered species sightings in comparison to the other species present. The two biggest issues are uncertainty of location and the size of the data in question. Because these animals are protected, some of the data is obscured to decrease the likelihood of poaching. This makes certain spatial analysis tricky and can lead to a decrease in accuracy. Second is that there are billions of sightings logged in GBIF and comparing these together even at smaller scales like a country or state become challenging. My lowly MacBook Pro and free GIS software simply doesn't have the bandwidth to conduct that level of analysis (although I really want to!). All of this to say, the solutions you've presented are possible!
2. The way a species is defined as endangered for this map is controlled by an international agency. While different states and countries can create their own endangered species list, IUCN is the most internationally recognized. This eliminates bias on the local/state level but doesn't remove our charismatic animal-centric bias which is a big problem facing conservation.

Hopefully those answered your questions!

This map includes plants, animals and fungi!

1. A lot. California has more biodiversity than the northeast US and Canada combined. Texas scores so high because they have a lot of rivers with endangered species. Deserts have a lot of biodiversity actually. Generally speaking, the closer you get to the equator the more biodiversity you have, and the zone where we get deserts is mostly between 30 and 50 degrees north and south.

2. None. California has it's own law and a species that is protected under it is called "a species of special interest to the state of California." The Endangered Species Act is federal law. There is also an international organization called IUCN that designates species as endangered.

Wouldn’t it also mean states will fewer endangered species already had them extinct?

Yeah, it’s like, having a lot of creatures that are endangered is really good or really bad.

[removed]

Not necessarily. Not all endangered species were once found throughout the entire US. States with fewer endangered species may have had some species go extinct or may have lower biodiversity due to environmental factors.

The biggest factor is having species with small ranges. Microclimates, sand dunes, islands, and oases are places you might find small-range species. Hawaii doesn’t have a ton of species overall, but obviously has a really high percentage of species with small ranges. CA has the most of the contiguous US. The plains, Midwest, and Northeast have very few.

Yeah, there's also scrub desert, high desert, low desert, urban desert, and a small amount of water.

Ash Meadows alone probably makes up a decent chunk of them.

There's probably like 40 species of spiders alone in your house.

You can't be endangered if you don't exist (anymore).

Fish. A LOT of the south east endangered species are fish. TN and AL both swap which state has the most native species of aquatic fish, they keep finding more. Some populations exist in just one tiny water shed.

I don't know about other regions of the US (my ichthyology degree is decades out of date and I studied in the South East) but I suspect is very similar in California as well.

Best damn ICC board member I’ve ever worked with. Your graphs are impressive.

I thought orchids were a florida thing

Kind of misleading as if you’ve completely exterminated a species to extinction, it would no longer appear on this list

Well 3:

• Help endangered species thrive
• Kill off stuff that's endangered
• Don't actually look for at risk species in the first place

I kinda see a trend of high populated states having more endangered species, but what’s up with Alabama?

That's probably not California's fault. California has more biodiversity than any other state. If you have a lot of species to begin with, a lot of them will be endangered (especially when your state also has 40 million people, a drought problem, and a ton of agriculture).

[removed]

Aloha. When you fly into Hawaii, passengers have to fill out forms regarding their trip. Please fill them out and help us protect our endangered species.

Thank you.

[deleted]

[removed]

They meant that you can lower the number of endangered species in your state by helping them recover or by letting them die out. Either option will decrease the number of species on the endangered list.

Well, they did have a point with what they were saying, if they have an inaccurate count from under reporting, it's going to skew lower, and say there's a fewer amount of endangered species

Like how one method people employed of lower confirmed covid cases was to not test. Can't have confirmed cases if you don't test, though it does nothing to the actual amount of covid cases.

[removed]

> aquatic fish

As compared to the more common land-dwelling fish?

Somehow I see two very large states with diverse climates and geographies and two mostly swamp states with vulnerable ecosystems.

Great job! How do you wrap the text around the map?

Same thing that's going on with California, Texas and Florida. High initial biodiversity leads to a lot of opportunities for things become endangered. Alabama is the most biodiverse state east of the Mississippi baring Florida.

So are the low numbers better or an indicator they have just made many of them extinct already?

🤔😯 Wait! But California is soooo Green in Politics‼️😥😡👿

Its funny how this almost corelated directly with human population

There are a few (pupfish, golden trout), but CA has much lower freshwater fish diversity, because the water is mostly either cold or ephemeral. CA has a ton of small-range plants compared to the rest of the continental US and I believe it’s at or near the top in rare mammals.

[removed]

More people = more endangered species.

I don't know how much of an effect this has on the data(is this indigenous species only), but there is something that might be slightly misleading about the Texas data. Due to the proliferation of non-indigenous species hunting in Texas, you can find species that, while on the world endangered list, are actually thriving there due to farming(for hunting). One example that I know of firsthand is Oryx dammah. While this species is IUCN EW, they are being bred very successfully in Texas. So while I'm sure it counts as an endangered species in Texas, it isn't because they are being forced into extinction there. I'm guessing they are not unique in that scenario. Anyway, just thought I'd toss that in for discussion.

Nevada was a climate refuge during the ice age due to its topography. The state is incredibly botanically diverse, as well as having aquatic species isolated by deserts has led to massive speciation.

This is more of a map of biodiversity than it is poor species management.

Well here's a 4th: Move the goal posts

As compared to marine fish, freshwater vs saltwater.

Does this indicate which states have a lot of species and therefore a lot of endangered species? And also... how could there be such a big difference between Mississippi and Alabama which are right next to each other and have similar geography?

Hawaii stares angrily

Lmao…I was thinking “so extinct lowers the numbers, amirite?”

Ahhh…and nurturing them into proliferation does too. Got it!

Pretty cool. Awesome would be clickable to show a box listing them, and links there to popup each item chosen.

The largest part of Alabama's biodiversity is found in the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta, the second largest river delta in the lower 48.

>The Mobile–Tensaw delta is ecologically important and includes a wide variety of habitats, including mesic flood plains, cypress-gum swamps, tidal brackish water marshes, bottomland forests and submersed grass beds.[3] As one of the most biologically diverse regions in both Alabama and the United States, it is home to 126 species of fish, 46 mammals, 69 reptiles, 30 amphibians,[2] and at least 300 species of bird, including more than 110 which nest in the region.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile%E2%80%93Tensaw_River_Delta

As with all good things, it is currently exposed to a lot of pointless risk.

>In September, the Southern Environmental Law Center and former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Alabama Richard Moore filed a lawsuit on behalf of Mobile Baykeeper against Alabama Power. The suit challenges the company’s illegal plan to permanently leave more than 21 million tons of toxin-laden coal ash at Plant Barry in an unlined pit within the floodplain on the banks of the Mobile River. 
>
>“Plant Barry is the only coal ash lagoon of a major utility left in a low-lying coastal area of the Southeast that is not already cleaned up or on track to be recycled or removed to safe storage, away from waterways,” said Barry Brock, director of SELC’s Alabama office. “It is past time that Alabama Power faced up to the fact that leaving wet, polluting coal ash on the banks of the Mobile River is not a long-term solution — it’s a looming disaster.” 
>
>For decades, coal ash at Plant Barry has been contaminating groundwater with high levels of arsenic and other pollutants. Now that the utility is required by federal law to close and clean up its coal ash, Alabama Power presented a plan to continue storing millions of tons of coal ash in a pit next to the Mobile River, ensuring continued pollution. 

Alabama Power is a monopoly owned by Southern Company, which has had some of its questionable political dealings and associations in the news lately:

https://www.al.com/news/2022/12/matrix-paid-news-outlets-to-give-alabama-power-favorable-coverage-report-states.html

>An influential political consultant for Alabama Power has financial ties to three news organizations in the state that gave glowing coverage to the powerful utility while damaging the company’s opponents, according to a report published Monday.
>
>Matrix LLC, the Montgomery-based political consulting firm that boasts Alabama Power as a longtime client, paid $900,000 to six media organizations in Alabama and Florida, including Yellowhammer News, Alabama Today and Alabama Political Reporter in Alabama, according to the report by NPR and Floodlight.

(That political consulting firm has done lots of similar shady stuff for Florida's monopoly utility):

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/os-ne-dark-money-ghost-candidates-tactics-20211230-7zelkoadffclde3z76ax3cgx3m-htmlstory.html

​

As a result, the Alabama Public Service Commission, which is tasked with regulating the monopoly, is widely known to be a completely subservient selection of puppets for Southern Company. Putting aside this impending environmental catastrophe, Alabama Power customers pay some of the highest rates in the country, while Southern Company has been consistently making billions in profit.

There could be a lot of reasons for low numbers such as low overall biodiversity, extripation (extinction within a local area), or a lack of data as to whether a species is present. It all depends on context really.

Hey there! So just to clear up, this map only includes wild animals and not captive species in farms, safari parks, zoos or exotic hunting facilities.

Basically just a biodiversity map

The Smokie mtns (NC) have the highest concentration of different species in the nation

Interesting map @malxredleader ! Can you help me reproduce the data? ... I go to https://www.iucnredlist.org, click the "magnifying glass" by the search box, leave type=species, leave taxonomy as default (fungi, plantae, anamalia, chromista), Red List category (I select Endangered and Critically Endangered), I expand Land Regiona -> expand North America -> expand United States, and select North Carolina. I assume the (63) beside North Carolina means there are 63 matches. ... but the map says 136.

Hi! So to replicate the data, you can click on the GBIF link which will take you to a large data file with all of the findings. GBIF's data is more regularly updated and tends to have a more complete picture of the animals present since some have subtle range crossover not usually picked up by IUCN

That sounds impressive, untill you learn anything about the natural history of Hawaii.

Agreed! - Would be nice to have an easy way to see the what the 136 in North Carolina are! (are they all fungi? are bald eagles on the list? water dogs? honey bees? etc...)

Alabama is extremely biodiverse in its freshwater fauna, especially mussels, amphibians, and fish.

Hawaii has a high population density though

[deleted]

Hawaii stares even angrier*

Failing to look won't remove species that are already being counted.

You mean "change the definitions."

They don't actually have that similar of geography. Mississippi lies completely in the Atlantic Coastal Plain (the area known for plantations across the South), while only a little over half of Alabama is. The end of the Appalachians occurs in Alabama, just south of Birmingham.

Since it's the end, a lot of the subdivisions of the Appalachians, like the Ridge & Valley, uniquely hit the coastal plain only in Alabama. This creates some rare soil mixes at those points.

On top of that, Alabama's rivers quickly spread out like a fan. So there are many different rivers that cross the fall line (the meeting of the coastal plain with the Appalachians), like the Tennessee River, the Black Warrior River, the Cahaba River, the Coosa River and the Tallapoosa. The fall line tends to isolate aquatic ecosystems above the line, so Alabama ends up with five or six uniquely isolated ecosystems in the northern half of the state.

Then there's the Mobile Delta in the southern part of Alabama. Like any other major swampy area, it has all the pieces needed for massive biodiversity (lots of water, mild winters, longer daylight, etc).

Yet, it's not just that. During the last Ice Age (which, in relative terms, wasn't that long ago), Alabama wasn't covered in glaciers. So it really wasn't a mass extinction event there. In fact, a lot of the wildlife that would be associated with anything south of taiga got pushed down into Alabama. And for other than things far more inclined to cooler temperatures like elk, most of that wildlife stayed.

These things combined make Alabama the most biodiverse state east of the Mississippi, and not Florida like many would assume. Other nearby states have similar aspects, but not in the same degree. For example, Georgia has pretty much all the same things except the different Appalachia strata hitting the coastal plain.

I've created a "proof of concept" map (using just the GBIF data), where you can click the states to see a list of the species in that state: https://robslink.com/SAS/democd104/endangered_species_map.htm

Awesome! Map was cool! THIS makes it real!

[removed]

Thanks! - Here's what I came up with, using just the GBIF data: https://robslink.com/SAS/democd104/endangered_species_map.htm