Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Threatened and Endangered Illinois Wetland Species

The number of Threatened and Endangered Species in Illinois is much higher than I thought! Do developers and state regulators look for endangered and threatened species before developing or mining land? I don't think so . . . at least not in any effective manner. The law is very confusing to this concerned citizen, but I intend to learn more about it.

Click the Title find a link to the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board's ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES LIST.

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According to Illinois Environmental Policy Review, Volume 2, Issue 2 - December, 2000, "Endangered Species and Habitat Protection," By Lawrence M. Page , as of 1999, the Illinois Endangered Species Protection Board listed 147 animals and 331 plants as endangered or threatened in Illinois.

In the lists below, the symbols E and T indicate whether the species is endangered or threatened in the state, * indicates a species on the federal threatened list, and ** indicates a species on the federal endangered list. This list is not complete; it is an attempt to list the wetland endangered and threatened species.

Birds

According to the Changing Illinois Environment: Critical Trends, 1994, Summary Report of the Critical Trends Assessment Project," 105 [species of birds] typically depend on or are strongly associated with these highly specialized habitats for nesting and foraging. Their populations have become imperiled as these habitats shrink in size.... Many nesting birds such as egrets, herons, and double-crested cormorants build colonies in wetlands (mainly floodplain forests).... Of the 43 bird species listed as endangered or threatened in Illinois as of 1993, 30 are strongly associated with wetlands, especially during the breeding season...."

Ammodramus henslowii--Henslow's Sparrow--T
Asio flammeus--Short-eared owl--E
Botaurus lentiginosus--American bittern--E
Buteo swainsoni--Swainson's hawk--E
Charadrius melodus--Piping plover--E**
Chlidonias niger--Black tern--E
Circus cyaneus--Northern harrier--E
Dendroica cerulea--Cerulean Warbler--T
Egretta caerulea--Little blue heron--E
Egretta thula--Snowy egret--E
Falco peregrinus--Peregrine Falcon--T
Gallinula chloropus--Common moorhen--T
Grus canadensis--Sandhill crane--T
Haliaeetus leucocephalus--Bald eagle--T*
Ixobrychus exilis--Least Bittern--T
Ictinia mississippiensis--Mississippi kite--E
Laterallus jamaicensis--Black rail--E
Limnothlypis swainsonii--Swainson's Warbler--E
Nycticorax nycticorax--Black-crowned night heron--E
Nyctanassa violacea--Yellow-crowned night heron--E
Pandion haliaetus--Osprey--E
Phalaropus tricolor--Wilson's phalarope--E
Rallus elegans--King rail--E
Sterna antillarum--Least tern--E**
Sterna forsteri--Forster's tern--E
Sterna hirundo--Common tern--E
Thyromanes bewickii--Bewick's Wren--E
Tyto alba--Barn Owl--E
Xanthocephalus xanthocephalus--Yellow-headed blackbird--E

The following were removed from the list:

Ardea alba--Great egret--(T)
Coturnicops noveboracensis--Yellow rail--(E)
Phalacrocorax auritus--Double-crested cormorant--(T)
Podilymbus podiceps--Pied-billed grebe--(T)

Amphibians

According to the 1994 CTAP report, 37 of Illinois' 41 amphibian species use wetlands at least part of each year. "Because of their permeable skin and because they are exposed to both terrestrial and wetland environments, amphibians are especially susceptible to environmental stresses....The eastern newt, once thought to occur across Illinois, is no longer found in the state's central counties due to the draining of prairie marshes. There are eight threatened or endangered wetland amphibians in Illinois."

Ambystoma platineum--Silvery salamander--E
Cryptobranchus alleganiensis--Hellbender--E
Desmognathus conanti--Spotted dusky salamander--E
Ambystoma jeffersonianum--Jefferson Salamander--T
Gastrophryne carolinensis--Eastern Narrowmouth Toad--T
Hemidactylium scutatum--Four-toed salamander--T
Hyla avivoca--Bird-voiced treefrog--T
Pseudacris streckeri--Illinois chorus frog--T


Reptiles

The 1994 CTAP reports that at least 47 of the 60 Illinois reptiles use wetlands to some extent. "Seven of the nine species listed as endangered or threatened in Illinois as of 1993 (three turtles and four snakes) use wetlands." I found eight species on the most current ENDANGERED AND THREATENED SPECIES LIST.

Clemmys guttata--Spotted turtle--E
CClonophis kirtlandii--Kirtland's snake--T
Kinosternon flavescens--Illinois mud turtle--E
Macroclemys temminckii--Alligator snapping turtle--T
Nerodia fasciata--Broad-banded water snake--E
Pseudemys concinna--River cooter--E
Sistrurus catenatus--Eastern massasauga--E
Thamnophis sauritus--Eastern ribbon snake--E

The following is no longer on the endangered and threatened species list:
Nerodia cyclopion--Green water snake--T

Mammals

The 1994 CTAP states: "Although few mammals are adapted specifically to wetlands, eight of the ten mammal species considered endangered or threatened in Illinois as of 1993 use wetlands to some extent. The swamp rabbit (whose populations are in decline in Illinois), and the marsh rice rat are among them. Such commercially valuable furbearers as the raccoon, mink, muskrat, and beaver also inhabit wetlands." I found six threatened or endangered wetland mammals on the Illinois list.

Corynorhinus rafinesquii--Rafinesques's big-eared bat--E
Myotis grisescens--Gray Bat--E**
Myotis sodalis--Indiana Bat--E**
Neotoma floridana--Eastern Woodrat--E
Ochrotomys nuttallii--Golden mouse--T
Oryzomys palustris--Rice rat--T

The following are no longer listed as endangered or threatened in Illinois:

Lutra canadensis--River otter--(E)
Lynx rufus--Bobcat--(T)


Invertebrates

CTAP reports that relatively few (four of 51) of the invertebrates endangered or threatened in Illinois as of 1993 are wetland species. However, I can't figure out which species is the fourth! Here are three endangered or threatened insects found in wetland areas.

Insects
Atrytone arogos--Arogos Skipper--E
Calephelis muticum--Swamp metalmark--E
Nannothemis bella--Elfin skimmer dragonfly--T
Somatochlora hineana--Hine's emerald dragonfly--E

Fish

According to the CTAPreport, "twelve of the 29 fish species listed as threatened or endangered in Illinois as of 1993 either occur in wetlands (mainly swamps, oxbow lakes, and sluggish backwaters) or breed in them. The widespread drainage of such habitats reduced the range for seven Illinois wetland species that were subsequently listed as threatened or endangered." I've identified four threatened or endangered wetland fish in Illinois.

Agnatha
Lampetra aepyptera--Least brook lamprey (pdf)--T
Osteichthyes
Lepomis punctatus--Spotted sunfish--T
Lepomis symmetricus--Bantam sunfish (pdf)--T
Notropis maculatus--Taillight shiner--E

Plants

The 1994 CTAP reports that a total of 952 species are found in Illinois wetlands and these constitute about 42% of the state's native flora. I've listed 144 threatened or endangered wetland plants in Illinois.

Asclepias meadii--Mead's milkweed --E*
Alnus rugosa--Speckled adler--E
Amelanchier sanguinea--Roundleaf Juneberry, Roundleaf Serviceberry, or Shore Shadbush--E
Aster furcatus--Forked aster--T
Beckmannia syzigachne--American slough grass--E
Bartonia paniculata--Screwstem--E
Betula alleghaniensis--Yellow birch--E
Boltonia decurrens--Decurrent false aster--T
Calla palustris--Water arum--E
Calopogon tuberosus--Grass pink orchid--E
Cardamine pratensis--Cuckoo flower--E
Carex alata--Winged sedge--E
Carex arkansana--sedge--E
Carex aurea--Golden sedge--T
Carex brunnescens--Brownish sedge--E
Carex chordorrhiza--Cordroot sedge--E
Carex canescens--Arkansas Sedge--E
Carex crawei--Crawe's sedge--T
Carex crawfordii--Sedge--E
Carex cryptolepis--sedge--E
Carex disperma--Shortleaf sedge--E
Carex decomposita--Cypress-knee sedge--E
Carex intumescens--Swollen sedge--T
Carex gigantea--Large sedge--E
Carex oxylepis--Sharp-scaled sedge--E
Carex oligosperma--Few-seeded sedge--T
Carex reniformis--Reniform sedge--E
Carex prasina--Drooping sedge--T
Carex trisperma--Three-seeded sedge--E
Carex tuckermanii--Tuckerman's sedge--E
Carex viridula--Little green sedge--T
Chamaedaphne calyculata--Leatherleaf--T
Cimicifuga racemosa--False bugbane--E
Clematis crispa--Blue jasmine--E
Clematis viorna--Leatherflower--E
Conioselinum chinese--Hemlock parsley--E
Cornus canadensis--Bunchberry--E
Cynosciadium digitatum--Finger dog-shade--E
Cystopteris laurentiana--Small yellow lady's slipper--E
Cypripedium acaule--Moccasin flower, Pink lady's slipper--E
Cypripedium candidum--White lady's slipper--E
Cypripedium reginae--Showy lady's slipper--E

Drosera intermedia--Narrow-leaved sundew--T
Drosera rotundifolia--Round-leaved sundew--E
Dryopteris celsa--Log fern--E
Echinodorus tenellus--Small burhead--E
Eleocharis pauciflora--Few flowered spikerush--E
Eleocharis rostellata--Beaked spikerush--T
Epilobium strictum--Downy willow herb--T
Eriophorum virginicum--Rusty cotton grass--E
Eriophorum viridi-carinatum--Tall cotton grass--E
Eupatorium incarnatum--Thoroughwort--E
Filipendula rubra--Queen-of-the-prairie--T
Fimbristylis annua--Baldwin's fimbristylis--E
Fimbristylis vahlii--Vahl's fimbristylis--E
Galium labradoricum--Bog bedstraw--T
Gaultheria procumbens--Wintergreen--E
Glyceria arkansana--Arkansas manna-grass--E
Glyceria borealis--Northern manna-grass--E
Helianthus angustifolius--Narrow-leaved sunflower--T
Helianthus giganteus--Tall sunflower--E
Heteranthera reniformis--Mud plantain--E
Hydrocotyle ranunculoides--Water-pennywort--E
Hydrolea uniflora--One-flowered hydrolea--E
Hypericum adpressum--Shore St. John's wort--E
Isoetes butleeri--Quillwort--E
Juncus alpinus--Richardson's rush--E
Juncus vaseyi--Vasey's rush--E
Justicia ovata--Water willow--E
Larix laricina--Tamarack--T
Lycopodium inundatum--Bog clubmoss--E
Lysimachia fraseri--Loosestrife--E
Lysimachia radicans--Creeping loosestrife--E
Melothria pendula--Squirting cucumber--E
Mimulus glabratus--Yellow monkey flower--E
Panicum stipitatum--Tall flat panic grass--E
Panicum yadkinense--Panic grass--E
Paspalum dissectum--Bead grass--E
Planera aquatica--Water elm--E
Platanthera clavellata--Wood orchid--E
Platanthera flava--Tubercled orchid--E
Platanthera flava herbiola--Tubercled orchid--E
Platanthera leucophaea--Pairie whithe fringed orchid--E
Poa autumnalis--Autumn bluegrass--E
Pognia ophioglossoides--Snake-mouth--E
Polygonatum pubescens--Downy Solomon's seal--T
Polygonum arifolium--Halbred-leaved tearthumb--E
Primula mistassinica--Bird's-eye primrose--E
Puccinellia pallida--Pole manna-grass--E
Rhamnus alnifolia--Alder buckthorn--E
Rhynchospora globularis--Grass beaked rush--E
Rhynchospora glomerata--Clustered beaked rush--E
Ribes hirtellum--Northern gooseberry--E
Rorippa islandica hispida--Hairy marsh yellow cress--E
Rubus pubescens--Dwarf Raspberry--T
Rubus setosus--Bristly blackberry--E
Sagittaria longirostra--Arrowhead--E
Salix serissima--Autumn willow--E
Sambucus pubens--Red-berried elder--T
Sanguisorba canadensis--American burnet--E
Sarracenia purpurea--Pitcher plant--E
Scheuchzeria palustris--Arrow-grass--E
Scirpus cespitosus--Tufted bulrush--E
Scripus hattorianus--Bulrush--E
Scirpus paludosus--Alkali bulrush--E
Scirpus polyphyllus--Bulrush--T
Scirpus purshianus--Weak bulrush--E
Scirpus smithii--Smith's bulrush--E
Sorbus americana--American mountain ash--E
Sparganium americanum--American burreed--E
Sparganium chlorocarpum--Green-fruited burreed--E
Spiranthes romanzoffiana--Hooded ladies' tresses--E
Styrax americana--Patterson bindweed--T
Styrax americana--Storax--T
Sullivantia renifolia--Sullivantia--T
Thalia dealbata--Powdery thalia--E
Thismia americana--Thismia--E
Thuja occidentalis--Arbor vitae--T
Tofieldia glutinosa--False asphodel--T
Trientalis borealis--Star-flower--T
Triglochin maritima--Common bog arrowgrass--E
Triglochin palustris--Slender bog arrowgrass--E
Utricularia cornuta--Horned bladderwort--E
Utricularia intermedia--Flat-leaved bladderwort--E
Utricularia minor--Small bladderwort--E
Vaccinium corymbosum--Highbush blueberry--E
Vaccinium macrocarpon--Large cranberry--E
Vaccinium oxycoccos--Small cranberry--E
Valeriana uliginosa--Marsh valerian--E
Veronica americana--American brooklime--E
Veronica scutellata--Marsh speedwell--T
Viola incognita--Hairy white violet--E
Viola primulifolia--Primrose violet--E
Zigadenus glaucus--White camass--E

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