EPA EcoBox Tools by Receptors - Endangered, Threatened or Other Species of Concern

Overview

Endangered species are those plants and animals that have become so rare they are in danger of becoming extinct. Threatened species are plants and animals that are likely to become endangered within the foreseeable future throughout all or a significant portion of their ranges. Under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), all federal agencies are required to ensure that their regulatory actions are not likely to jeopardize the continued existence of threatened or endangered species or destroy or adversely modify their critical habitat. The ESA is administered by the Interior Department's Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and Commerce Department's National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries, depending on the species. EPA's general process for assessing risks to threatened and endangered species and their habitats includes a formal consultation with the FWS and NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. Species may be protected under other Federal laws such as the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and Marine Mammal Protection Act. Additional species of special concern can be designated at the state level.

Other species of concern that might be considered in an ERA include keystone species—species whose presence dramatically alters the structure and dynamics of ecological systems—and susceptible species. Ecological receptors are considered susceptible when they are sensitive to a stressor to which they are or may be exposed. For example, a mammal such as a mink could be selected as a receptor for a bioaccumulative stressorbioaccumulative stressorAny physical, chemical, or biological entity that can induce an adverse response (synonymous with agent) that has an increase in concentration in the biological organism over time. such as polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), since mink is documented to be sensitive to the bioaccumulation of PCBs.

Endangered Species Websites

U.S. Federal Agency Websites
U.S. EPA	Protecting Endangered Species from Pesticides
U.S. Fish and Wildlife	Endangered Species
National Marine Fisheries Service	Endangered Species Conservation
U.S. State Websites The following links exit the site
Alabama	Alabama's Endangered and Threatened Species
Alaska	Alaska's List of Special Status Species
Arizona	Arizona's Threatened and Endangered Species Conservation Arizona's Nongame and Endangered Wildlife Program
Arkansas	Arkansas' Endangered Species
California	California's Threatened and Endangered Species
Colorado	Colorado's Threatened and Endangered List
Connecticut	Connecticut's Endangered, Threatened and Special Concerns
Delaware	Delaware's Endangered Species
Florida	Florida's Imperiled Species Florida's Federally Listed Plant Species
Georgia	Georgia Rare Species and Natural Community Data
Hawaii	Hawaii Invasive Species Council
Idaho	Idaho's Threatened, Endangered, and Candidate Species
Illinois	Illinois Dept of Natural Res Div of Natural Heritage Endangered and Threatened Species
Indiana	Indiana's Endangered Plant and Animal Species
Iowa	Iowa's Threatened and Endangered Species Program
Kansas	Kansas' Threatened and Endangered Species
Kentucky	Kentucky's Threatened and Endangered Species
Louisiana	Louisiana's Threatened and Endangered Species
Maine	Maine's List of Rare Plants Maine's List of Rare Animals
Maryland	Maryland's Rare, Threatened & Endangered Animals
Massachusetts	Massachusetts List of Endangered, Threatened and Special Concern Species
Michigan	Michigan's Threatened and Endangered Species
Minnesota	Minnesota's Endangered, Threatened, and Special Concern Species
Mississippi	Mississippi's List of Endangered Species
Missouri	Missouri's List of Endangered Species
Montana	Montana's Species Conservation and Management Species Status Codes
Nebraska	Nebraska's Threatened & Endangered Species Endangered Species Protection
Nevada	Nevada's Natural Heritage Species Info
New Hampshire	New Hampshire's Nongame and Endangered Species
New Jersey	New Jersey's Endangered and Threatened Wildlife Wildlife Species of Special Concern in New Jersey
New Mexico	New Mexico's Threatened & Endangered Species
New York	New York's Endangered Species
North Carolina	North Carolina's Species List
North Dakota	North Dakota's Threatened and Endangered Species Endangered Species Protection
Ohio	Ohio's State Listed Wildlife Species
Oklahoma	Oklahoma's Threatened and Endangered Species
Oregon	Oregon's Threatened, Endangered, and Candidate Fish and Wildlife Species
Pennsylvania	Pennsylvania's Threatened and Endangered Species Pennsylvania Listed Plants
Rhode Island	Rhode Island Wildlife Action Plan with Species and Habitat Profiles
South Carolina	South Carolina's Rare, Threatened & Endangered Species Inventory
South Dakota	South Dakota's Threatened and Endangered Species
Tennessee	Tennessee's Endangered or Threatened Species
Texas	Texas Nongame and Rare Species Program Rare, Threatened, and Endangered Species of Texas by County (Interactive Map)
Utah	Utah's Endangered and Threatened Animals of Utah Utah's Conservation Data Center: Reports and Lists
Vermont	Vermont's Endangered and Threatened Species
Virginia	Virginia's Endangered Species
Washington	Washington's List of Species of Concern
West Virginia	West Virginia's Rare, Threatened and Endangered Species
Wisconsin	Wisconsin's Endangered and Threatened Species List
Wyoming	Wyoming's Species of Concern

Tools

Information and data sources are available to assist with identifying potential threatened and endangered species to use as receptors in an ERA. Please note that many resources from private organizations also provide species lists, but are not included in the tool table below. The resources compiled here are generally limited to freely available resources from U.S. state and federal sources.

In addition to the tools shown below, there are many available sources of information and data related to the fate and transport of contaminants in environmental media and the transfer of contaminants from an environmental medium to receptor. See the Chemical module of the Stressors Tool Set for information and tools on fate and transport related to chemical stressors.

See the Food Chains and Webs module of the Exposure Pathways (Media) Tool Set for information, data sources, and modeling tools available to help in the evaluation of food chain and food web contaminant transfers in an ERA.