New York Natural Heritage Program
Our mission is to facilitate conservation of New York's biodiversity by providing comprehensive information and scientific expertise on rare species and natural ecosystems to resource managers and other conservation partners.
Facilitating Conservation of New York's Biodiversity
NY supports 10 populations of the
federally listed Northern Monk's-hood
(Aconitum noveboracense). Photo by
Stephen M. Young.
The NY Natural Heritage Program is a partnership between the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (NYSDEC) and The Nature Conservancy. Our mission is to facilitate conservation of rare animals, rare plants, and natural ecosystems, which we commonly refer to as "natural communities." We accomplish this mission by working collaboratively with partners inside and outside New York to support stewardship of New York's rare plants, rare animals, and significant natural communities, and to reduce the threat of invasive species to native ecosystems. We combine thorough field inventories, scientific analyses, expert interpretation, and comprehensive databases on New York's flora and fauna to deliver quality information to partners working in natural resource conservation. The end result of our actions will be more compatible management activities around our most imperiled species, ecosystems, and high-quality natural areas, in order to have significant and lasting effects on the preservation of New York's biodiversity. Our program was established in 1985 and is a contract unit housed within NYSDEC's Division of Fish, Wildlife, & Marine Resources. We are staffed by more than 25 scientists and specialists with expertise in ecology, zoology, botany, information management, and geographic information systems.
Building and Maintaining the Most Comprehensive Database on New York's Imperiled Biodiversity
In partnership with NYSDEC and a large number
of experts and volunteers across the state, NY
Natural Heritage is compiling a statewide atlas of
dragonflies and damselflies. Russet-tipped clubtail
(Stylurus plagiatus) photo by Jesse W. Jaycox.
NY Natural Heritage maintains New York's most comprehensive database on the status and location of rare species and natural communities. We presently monitor 174 natural community types, 727 rare plant species, and 432 rare animal species across New York, keeping track of more than 11,900 locations where these species and communities are found. The database also includes detailed information on the relative rareness of each species and community, the quality of their occurrences, and descriptions of sites. The information is used by public agencies, the environmental conservation community, developers, and others to aid in land-use decisions. Our data are essential for prioritizing those species and communities in need of protection and for guiding land-use and land-management decisions where these species and communities exist.
Exploring New York, from Sea-level Salt Marshes to Alpine Meadows
NY Natural Heritage biologists work statewide
to document important elements of biodiversity,
as in this mature beech-maple mesic forest on the
Tug Hill Plateau (top) and globally rare inland
Atlantic white cedar swamp in southeastern NY
(bottom). Photos by Tim Howard.
In 1990, NY Natural Heritage published Ecological Communities of New York State, an all inclusive classification of natural and human-influenced communities. From 40,000-acre beech-maple mesic forests to 40-acre maritime beech forests, salt marshes to alpine meadows, our classification quickly became the primary source for natural community classification in New York and a fundamental reference for natural community classifications in the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada. This classification, which has been continually updated as we gather new field data, has also been incorporated into the National Vegetation Classification System that is being developed and refined by NatureServe, The Nature Conservancy, and Natural Heritage Programs throughout the United States (including New York).
NY Natural Heritage tracks the known locations of rare natural community types (such as inland Atlantic white cedar swamp in southeastern NY) and the state's best examples of common types (such as shrub swamps).
Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data
Centres (shown in gold) work together throughout
the Western Hemisphere. Map by NatureServe.
Placing New York's Species and Ecosystems in Context - From Local to Global
NY Natural Heritage is an active participant in NatureServe - the international network of biodiversity data centers. There are currently Natural Heritage Programs in all 50 states and several interstate regions. There are also 21 Conservation Data Centers, the international equivalent of Natural Heritage Programs, in Canada, Latin America, and South America. These programs work with NatureServe to develop biodiversity data, maintain compatible standards for data management, and provide information about rare species and natural communities that is consistent across many geographic scales - from ¼-acre wetland sites to the North American continent.
NY Natural Heritage's collaboration with NatureServe and other states helps us put our information into a broader context. With NatureServe, we track the rarity of species and natural communities at global and state scales. This allows us to distinguish the conservation priority for plant with just a few populations in the world with another plant with a few populations in New York but many populations elsewhere. We can also pool our data to look across state and international lines. For example, New York data on rare species and natural communities along Lake Ontario have been combined with similar data from Canada to facilitate analyses of potential consequences of lake-level changes. Our information is also being combined with data from neighboring states to help us understand the significance of our best biodiversity sites relative to similar systems in southeastern Canada, New England, the Mid-Atlantic states, and other Great Lakes states.
Assessing New York's Biodiversity
NY Natural Heritage data provide a picture of the status of biodiversity in New York. The graph at left represents all 2,863 vascular plants, natural communities, and vertebrate animals native to New York State. It does not include data regarding invertebrate animals. Although NY Natural Heritage tracks several invertebrate groups (notably butterflies and moths, dragonflies and damselflies, beetles, and mollusks), insufficient data are available to make general statements about the status of native invertebrate species. In the graph, New York's biodiversity is separated into six categories as described below.
Half of New York's biodiversity appears to be secure, but 37%
of the state's native plants, vertebrate animals, and ecosystems
are in jeopardy of extirpation, and 7% may have been lost already.
Presumed extirpated - 4%: All known occurrences are gone and there is little chance of finding new populations.
Historical - 3%: No occurrences have been reported in the last 15 years, but more survey work is needed. These may still be present within NY or they may be extirpated.
Critically imperiled - 15%: Known at five or fewer locations in the state.
Imperiled - 10%: Known at just six to 20 locations.
Vulnerable - 12%: Known at 21 to 100 locations.
Believed Secure - 56%: Known at more than 100 sites.
Data Coverage:
The New York Natural Heritage Program surveys and monitors rare animals, rare plants, and significant ecological communities throughout the state. Animals include rare species of all vertebrate groups and selected rare species from the invertebrate groups of butterflies and moths, beetles, dragonflies and damselflies, mayflies, crayfish, land snails, and freshwater mussels. In addition, the program collects data on significant animal concentration areas, including bat hibernacula, anadromous fish, waterfowl, raptors, and nesting areas of terns, herons, and gulls. All rare flowering plants, ferns and fern allies are actively surveyed and monitored. A rare moss list has been developed but the program does not have an active survey program for mosses. Significant ecological communities surveyed include all rare ecological communities as well as the best examples of common communities.
Environmental Resource Mapper Displays NY Natural Heritage Data:
The Environmental Resource Mapper is an interactive mapping application that can show you the general areas where rare animals, rare plants, and rare and significant natural communities (such as forests, wetlands, and other habitat types) have been documented by the NY Natural Heritage Program. The Environmental Resource Mapper also displays locations of New York regulated freshwater wetlands and of protected streams, rivers, and lakes. These maps are intended as one source of information for landowners, land managers, citizens, local officials, and project sponsors engaged in land use decision making, conservation, or environmental assessment.How you can request data:
To obtain information on rare species and ecological communities in New York State, please submit an information request.
How you can Contribute data:
To continue building a comprehensive, up-to-date database of information on the locations of rare species and ecological communities in New York State, we invite your contributions. If you have information on a rare species or ecological community, please fill out a Natural Heritage Reporting Form (two-page MS Word document).
Conservation Links of Interest:
The following links bring you to websites outside of DEC's website.
New York Natural Heritage Conservation Guides : Conservation guides are comprehensive fact sheets about individual rare species and natural community types that are designed to help land managers, decision-makers, planners, scientists, consultants, students, and the interested public better understand the biodiversity that characterizes New York. Conservation Guides include information on biology, identification, habitat, distribution, conservation, and management. Guides are completed for many of New York's rare species and natural community types, and more are continually being added to the Guides website.
NatureServe: NatureServe is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing knowledge to protect our natural world. Representing the Natural Heritage network, NatureServe helps protect our environment by improving public understanding of biodiversity and by developing essential information about rare and endangered plants and animals and threatened ecosystems.
Natural Heritage Network: Natural Heritage Programs and Conservation Data Centers are member programs of NatureServe and represent the largest ongoing effort in the western hemisphere to gather standardized data on endangered plants, animals, and ecosystems. The Programs and Centers are found in all 50 U.S. states, 10 Canadian provinces, and 12 countries and territories in Latin America and the Caribbean.
NatureServe Explorer: A source for authoritative conservation information on more than 50,000 plants, animals, and ecological communities of the United States and Canada. NatureServe Explorer provides in-depth information on rare and endangered species, but also includes common plants and animals.
The Nature Conservancy--New York Office: The Nature Conservancy (TNC) is the world's leading private, international conservation group. TNC preserves habitats and species by saving the lands and waters they need to survive.
Biodiversity Research Institute: The New York State Biodiversity Research Institute (BRI) was created during a time of increasing awareness of the urgent need to preserve global and local biodiversity. State Education Law (Section 235-a (2,3)) of 1993 mandated the establishment of the BRI within the New York State Museum to meet these demands. The BRI is funded through the Environmental Protection Fund and includes a number of collaborators, including the Department of Environmental Conservation, the Natural Heritage Program, and the Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation.
More about New York Natural Heritage Program :
- Current Projects - Descriptions of some of the projects the New York Natural Heritage Program is currently working on.
- Rare Plant Information - Botany staff keep track of the status of New York's rare flowering plants, conifers, ferns and fern allies, and mosses.
- Rare Animal Information - Zoology staff survey rare animal species of all vertebrate groups (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish) and selected rare species from the invertebrate groups of butterflies and moths, beetles, dragonflies and damselflies, mayflies, and freshwater bivalve mollusks. Zoology staff also collect data on significant animal concentration areas.
- Ecological Community Information - Ecology staff assess and delineate New York's natural communities which are variable assemblages of interacting plant and animal populations that share a common environment.
- How to Request NYNHP Data - Instructions on how to request data from the New York Natural Heritage Program.
- Directions to the NYNHP Office - Directions, parking, and office building access information for visiting the New York Natural Heritage Program.
- Staff - An e-mail directory and photo that identifies New York Natural Heritage Program staff.
