Threatened and Endangered Species

 

Everglades National Park is home to a number of threatened and endangered plant and animal species. Some of the best known of these are the Florida Panther, American Crocodile, American Alligator, West Indian Manatee, Wood Stork, and Snail Kite.

 

Figure 1.  Areas within Everglades National Park that are designated as critical habitat for one or more federally listed species. Darker shades areas indicate overlapping critical habitat areas.

Federally Listed Species and Critical Habitat in Everglades National Park

Thirty-six native Florida species that may occur in Everglades National Park (EVER) are federally listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (ESA). These species include plants (8), invertebrates (7), fish (2), reptiles (8), birds (10), and mammals (4). Seven of these species are currently considered to be extirpated (no longer present) from the park. Two of these listed species, the Cape Sable seaside sparrow and the Florida leafwing butterfly only occur within Everglades National Park and the immediately adjacent lands. There currently are no candidates for consideration.

Approximately 180 plant and animal species that occur in EVER are also listed by the State of Florida as threatened, endangered, species of special concern, or commercially exploited (view state-listed animals).

Critical habitat is a legally designated area that is considered to be essential to the conservation of the federally listed species for which it is designated. Not all listed species have associated critical habitat. Critical habitat is currently designated or proposed for 10 of the 39 species that occur in the park, but well more than half of the park is currently designated as critical habitat for one or more listed species (Fig. 1).

Under the Endangered Species Act, Federal agencies are required to consider potential impacts of their actions on listed species and critical habitat (including proposed). Consultation with either the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (for terrestrial/freshwater species), or the National Marine Fisheries Service (for marine species) is required if any action may affect listed species or critical habitat, and we routinely conduct consultation with both agencies. Additionally, all federal agencies are supposed to use their authorities to advance the purposes of the Endangered Species Act, which are to improve protections for listed species. Everglades National Park conducts and participates in several such programs, ranging from participation in Everglades Restoration activities, to conducting status surveys for listed species and implementing habitat management in key areas.

(Key: 🟥 = Federally Endangered (E), Proposed Endangered (PE) , 🟧 = Federally Threatened (T), Proposed Threatened (PT),❓ = Unknown (U))

Common Name	Scientific Name	Status	Critical Habitat in Park
Cape Sable seaside sparrow	Ammodramus maritimus mirabilis	🟥 E	Yes
Red knot	Calidris canutus ssp. rufa	🟧 T	No
Ivory-billed woodpecker	Campephilus principalis	🟥 E	No
Piping plover	Charadrius melodus	🟧 T	Yes
Wood stork	Mycteria americana	🟧 T	No
Red cockaded woodpecker	Dryobates borealis	🟥 E	No
Everglade snail kite	Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus	🟥 E	Yes
Roseate tern	Sterna dougallii dougallii	🟧 T	No
Smalltooth sawfish	Pristis pectinata	🟥 E	Yes
Nassau grouper	Epinephelus striatus	🟥 E	No
Florida leafwing butterfly	Anaea troglodyta floridalis	🟥 E	Yes
Miami-blue butterfly	Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri	🟥 E	No
Stock island tree snail	Orthalicus reses	🟧 T	No
Bartram's scrub hairstreak	Strymon acis bartrami	🟥 E	Yes
Ceraunus blue butterfly	Hemiargus ceraunus antibubastus	🟧 T	No
Cassius blue butterfly	Leptotes cassius theonus	🟧 T	No
Monarch butterfly	Danaus plexipus	🟧 PT	No
Florida bonneted bat	Eumops floridanus	🟥 E	No
Florida panther	Puma concolor coryi	🟥 E	No
West Indian manatee	Trichecus manatus	🟧 T	Yes
Tricolored bat	Perimyotis subflavus	🟥 PE	No
Eastern black rail	Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis	🟧 T	No
Blodgett's silverbush	Argythamnia blodgettii	🟧 T	Yes
Pineland sandmat	Chamaesyce deltoidea ssp. pinetorum	🟧 T	Yes
Garber's spurge	Euphorbia garberi	🟧 T	No
Cape Sable thoroughwort	Chromolaena frustrata	🟥 E	Yes
Florida prairieclover	Dalea carthagenensis var. floridana	🟥 E	Yes
Twospike crabgrass	Digitaria pauciflora	🟧 T	Yes
Everglades bully	Sideroxylon reclinatum ssp. austrofloridense	🟧 T	Yes
Florida bristle fern	Trichomanes floridanum ssp. punctatum	🟥 E	Yes
American alligator	Alligator mississippiensis	🟧 T	No
American crocodile	Crocodylus acutus	🟧 T	Yes
Eastern indigo snake	Drymarchon corais cooperi	🟧 T	No
Loggerhead sea turtle	Caretta caretta (NW Atlantic DPS)	🟧 T	Yes
Green sea turtle	Chelonia mydas	🟥 E	No
Leatherback sea turtle	Dermochelys coriacea	🟥 E	No
Hawksbill sea turtle	Eretmochelys imbricata	🟥 E	No
Kemp's ridley sea turtle	Lepidochelys kempii	🟥 E	No

 

For additional information on species status, please visit the following pages:

• Amphibians
• Birds
• Mammals
• Reptiles