Search Rare Species Data by County or Watershed

Now you can use NatureServe Explorer to search for rare plant and animal species by U.S. county or watershed, not merely by state. County and watershed distribution data are available for rare and endangered plants and animals based on available locality records from NatureServe’s natural heritage member programs. This includes most species and subspecies with a NatureServe global conservation status of critically imperiled (G1), imperiled (G2), or vulnerable (G3), as well as species protected under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Here are examples of how you might put this search capability to use. By using this feature and selecting “Amphibians” with our Search by Group capability, you could generate a list of all at-risk amphibians known to occur in a specific watershed. Or, by defaulting your search to all species and selecting, say, Brunswick County, North Carolina, you can generate a list of all taxa found there that are at-risk, listed under the ESA, or proposed for listing.

County and watershed searches are accessed by going to the main search screen, then clicking on the “Location” tab at the top. You can select your area of interest either through a drop-down menu or through a map interface.

Note: These distribution data are based on element occurrence records, precise locality data that are developed and maintained by state natural heritage programs. For detail about the coverage and limitations of the available county and watershed data, see Data Sources

We welcome your thoughts on how to continue improving NatureServe Explorer. Please send your comments and suggestions by using Feedback.