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.

Everglades National Park Listed Species

Federal status and critical habitat designation for species in Everglades National Park

Birds

Common Name	Scientific Name	Federal Status	Critical Habitat	Occurrence in Park
Cape Sable seaside sparrow	Ammospiza maritima mirabilis	Endangered	Yes	Rare
Eastern black rail	Laterallus jamaicensis jamaicensis	Threatened	No	Rare
Everglade snail kite	Rostrhamus sociabilis plumbeus	Endangered	Designated	Occasional
Ivory-billed woodpecker	Campephilus principalis	Endangered	No	Extirpated
Kirtland’s warbler	Dendroica kirtlandii	Endangered	No	Extirpated
Piping plover	Charadrius melodus	Threatened	Designated (winter)	Seasonal, Rare
Red-cockaded woodpecker	Dryobates borealis	Endangered	No	Extirpated
Red knot	Calidris canutus ssp. rufa	Threatened	No	Rare
Roseate tern	Sterna dougallii dougallii	Threatened	No	Rare
Wood stork	Mycteria americana	Threatened	No	Common

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Fish

Common Name	Scientific Name	Federal Status	Critical Habitat	Occurrence in Park
Nassau grouper	Epinephelus striatus	Threatened	Designated	Rare
Smalltooth sawfish	Pristis pectinata	Endangered	Designated	Occasional

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Invertebrates

Common Name	Scientific Name	Federal Status	Critical Habitat	Occurrence in Park
Bartram’s scrub hairstreak	Strymon acis bartrami	Endangered	Designated	Rare
Cassius blue butterfly*	Leptotes cassius theonus	Threatened	No	Common
Ceraunus blue butterfly*	Hemiargus ceraunus antibubastus	Threatened	No	Common
Florida leafwing butterfly	Anaea troglodyta floridalis	Endangered	Designated	Rare
Miami-blue butterfly*	Cyclargus thomasi bethunebakeri	Endangered	No	Extirpated
Monarch butterfly	Danaus plexippus	Threatened	Proposed	Seasonal
Stock Island tree snail	Orthalicus reses	Threatened	No	Rare

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Mammals

Common Name	Scientific Name	Federal Status	Critical Habitat	Occurrence in Park
Florida bonneted bat	Eumops floridanus	Endangered	Designated	Occasional
Florida panther	Puma concolor coryi	Endangered	No	Rare
Tricolored bat	Perimyotis subflavus	Endangered	No	Occasional
West Indian manatee	Trichechus manatus	Threatened	Designated	Common

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Plants

Common Name	Scientific Name	Federal Status	Critical Habitat	Occurrence in Park
Blodgett’s silverbush	Argythamnia blodgettii	Threatened	Proposed	Rare
Cape Sable thoroughwort	Chromolaena frustrata	Endangered	Designated	Rare
Everglades bully	Sideroxylon reclinatum ssp. austrofloridense	Threatened	Proposed	Common
Florida bristle fern	Trichomanes punctatum ssp. floridanum	Endangered	Designated	Extirpated
Florida prairie-clover	Dalea carthagenensis var. floridana	Endangered	Proposed	Rare
Garber’s spurge	Euphorbia garberi	Threatened	No	Rare
Pineland sandmat	Euphorbia deltoidea ssp. pinetorum	Threatened	Proposed	Common
Twospike crabgrass	Digitaria pauciflora	Threatened	Proposed	Rare

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Reptiles

Common Name	Scientific Name	Federal Status	Critical Habitat	Occurrence in Park
American alligator*	Alligator mississippiensis	Threatened	No	Common
American crocodile	Crocodylus acutus	Threatened	Designated	Common
Eastern indigo snake	Drymarchon corais couperi	Threatened	No	Rare
Green sea turtle	Chelonia mydas (North Atlantic)	Threatened	No	Rare
Hawksbill sea turtle	Eretmochelys imbricata	Endangered	No	Rare
Kemp’s ridley sea turtle	Lepidochelys kempii	Endangered	No	Rare
Leatherback sea turtle	Dermochelys coriacea	Endangered	No	Rare
Loggerhead sea turtle	Caretta caretta (North Atlantic)	Threatened	Designated	Common

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* Included due to similarity of appearance to listed species.

 

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

• Amphibians
• Birds
• Mammals
• Reptiles