Conservation Guides - NY Natural Heritage Program

New York State Legal Status

Animals

Categories of Endangered and Threatened species are defined in New York State Environmental Conservation Law section 11-0535. Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern species are listed in regulation 6NYCRR 182.5.

E - Endangered Species

any species which meet one of the following criteria:

Any native species in imminent danger of extirpation or extinction in New York.
Any species listed as endangered by the United States Department of the Interior, as enumerated in the Code of Federal Regulations 50 CFR 17.11.

T - Threatened Species

any species which meet one of the following criteria

Any native species likely to become an endangered species within the foreseeable future in NY.
Any species listed as threatened by the U.S. Department of the Interior, as enumerated in the Code of Federal Regulations 50 CFR 17.11.

SC - Special Concern Species

those species which are not yet recognized as endangered or threatened, but for which documented concern exists for their continued welfare in New York.

P - Protected Wildlife

(defined in Environmental Conservation Law section 11-0103): wild game, protected wild birds, and endangered species of wildlife.

U - Unprotected

(defined in Environmental Conservation Law section 11-0103): the species may be taken at any time without limit; however a license to take may be required.

G - Game

(defined in Environmental Conservation Law section 11-0103): any of a variety of big game or small game species as stated in the Environmental Conservation Law; many normally have an open season for at least part of the year, and are protected at other times.

Plants

The following categories are defined in regulation 6NYCRR part 193.3 and apply to New York State Environmental Conservation Law section 9- 1503.

E - Endangered Species

listed species are those with:

5 or fewer extant sites, or
fewer than 1,000 individuals, or
restricted to fewer than 4 U.S.G.S. 7 ½ minute topographical maps, or
species listed as endangered by U.S. Department of Interior, as enumerated in Code of Federal Regulations 50 CFR 17.11.

T - Threatened

listed species are those with:

6 to fewer than 20 extant sites, or
1,000 to fewer than 3,000 individuals, or
restricted to not less than 4 or more than 7 U.S.G.S. 7 and ½ minute topographical maps, or
listed as threatened by U.S. Department of Interior, as enumerated in Code of Federal Regulations 50 CFR 17.11.

R - Rare

listed species have:

20 to 35 extant sites, or
3,000 to 5,000 individuals statewide.

V - Exploitably Vulnerable

listed species are likely to become threatened in the near future throughout all or a significant portion of their range within the state if causal factors continue unchecked.

U - Unprotected

no state status.

Federal Legal Status

Plants and Animals

The categories of federal status are defined by the United States Department of the Interior as part of the 1974 Endangered Species Act (see Code of Federal Regulations 50 CFR 17). The species listed under this law are enumerated in the Federal Register vol. 50, no. 188, pp. 39526 - 39527. The codes below without parentheses are those used in the Federal Register. The codes below in parentheses are created by Heritage to deal with species which have different listings in different parts of their range, and/or different listings for different subspecies or varieties.

(blank)

No Federal Endangered Species Act status.

LE

The element is formally listed as endangered.

LT

The element is formally listed as threatened.

PE

The element is proposed as endangered.

PT

The element is proposed as threatened.

C

The element is a candidate for listing.

LE,LT

The species is formally listed as endangered in part of its range, and as threatened in the other part; or, one or more subspecies or varieties is listed as endangered, and the others are listed as threatened.

LT,PDL

Populations of the species in New York are formally listed as threatened, and proposed for delisting.

(LE)

If the element is a full species, all subspecies or varieties are listed as endangered; if the element is a subspecies, the full species is listed as endangered.

LT,T(S/A)

One or more subspecies or populations of the species is formally listed as threatened, and the others are treated as threatened because of similarity of appearance to the listed threatened subspecies or populations.

PS

Partial status the species is listed in parts of its range and not in others; or, one or more subspecies or varieties is listed, while the others are not listed.

Conservation Status Ranks

Global and State Ranks

(animals, plants, ecological communities, and others)

Each element has a global and state rank as determined by the NY Natural Heritage Program. These ranks carry no legal weight. The global rank reflects the rarity of the element throughout the world and the state rank reflects the rarity within New York State. Infraspecific taxa are also assigned a taxon rank to reflect the infraspecific taxon's rank throughout the world. ? = Indicates a question exists about the rank. Range ranks, e.g. S1S2, indicate not enough information is available to distinguish between two ranks.

Global Rank

G1: Critically imperiled globally because of extreme rarity (5 or fewer occurrences), or very few remaining acres, or miles of stream) or especially vulnerable to extinction because of some factor of its biology.
G2: Imperiled globally because of rarity (6 - 20 occurrences, or few remaining acres, or miles of stream) or very vulnerable to extinction throughout its range because of other factors.
G3: Either rare and local throughout its range (21 to 100 occurrences), or found locally (even abundantly at some of its locations) in a restricted range (e.g. a physiographic region), or vulnerable to extinction throughout its range because of other factors.
G4: Apparently secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
G5: Demonstrably secure globally, though it may be quite rare in parts of its range, especially at the periphery.
GH: Historically known, with the expectation that it might be rediscovered.
GX: Species believed to be extinct.

New York State Rank

S1: Typically 5 or fewer occurrences, very few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or some factor of its biology making it especially vulnerable in New York State.
S2: Typically 6 to 20 occurrences, few remaining individuals, acres, or miles of stream, or factors demonstrably making it very vulnerable in New York State.
S3: Typically 21 to 100 occurrences, limited acreage, or miles of stream in New York State.
S4: Apparently secure in New York State.
S5: Demonstrably secure in New York State.
SH: Historically known from New York State, but not seen in the past 15 years.
SX: Apparently extirpated from New York State.
SZ: Present in New York State only as a transient migrant.
SxB and SxN: where Sx is one of the codes above, are used for migratory animals, and refer to the rarity within New York State of the breeding (B) populations and the non-breeding populations (N), respectively, of the species.

Taxon (T) Rank

The T-ranks (T1 - T5) are defined the same way as the Global ranks (G1 - G5), but the T-rank refers only to the rarity of the subspecific taxon.

T1 through T5: See Global Rank definitions.
Q: Indicates a question exists whether or not the taxon is a good taxonomic entity.

Conservation Status Definitions

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