Elementary Ecosystem Investigation: Alabama's Biodiversity

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Investigate Alabama's Biodiversity

The variety of living things in an area is called biodiversity.  
 
Alabama has a wide variety of terrestrial (land) habitats and several major rivers running through the state. This provides a wide range of habitats for organisms and gives Alabama more biodiversity than almost all of the other states in the United States. 

Alabama is ranked 4th place for most biodiversity in the United States and has more biodiversity than any other state east of the Mississippi River! 
 
Classification is the process of organizing organisms into groups based on similarities.  Scientists use basic traits to group organisms into taxonomic classes. 

These grouping start broad and are further broken down into more specific groups within the larger group.  A species is the most specific category within the classification system. 

For a taxonomic classification chart comparing key traits of common backyard wildlife, click here!


 
Click on the categories below to learn more
about Alabama's biodiversity.
   
Wildlife Plants
   
For more detailed information, visit our 
Alabama's Native Wildlife webpage		 For more detailed information, visit our
Alabama's Native Plants webpage
 
 

  
Wildlife
       
Alabama Amphibian Diversity:
 
  • Frogs: 30 species
  • Salamanders: 43 species
  • The southeastern United States has more amphibian diversity than anywhere else in the world!

Amphibian Diversity
BiodiversityMapping.org - Clinton N. Jenkins (Florida International University, Saving Nature)
Permission Details
Click on image to enlarge it
  
 
Alabama Bird Diversity:
 
  • 420 species
    • 178 species breed in Alabama (remain in Alabama throughout the year)
    • 174 species winter in Alabama (breed in other locations)
    • 80 species migrate through Alabama
Some birds migrate (move as a group from one place to another).  In colder months, food and other resources become more scarce, so many species of birds tend to move toward the south where there are more resources available.  
 
 
 
Alabama Fish Diversity:
 
  • 450 species
  • #1 for freshwater fish diversity in the United States!
  • 38% of all North American fish species are native to Alabama

Fish Diversity
BiodiversityMapping.org - Clinton N. Jenkins (Florida International University, Saving Nature)
Permission Details
Click on image to enlarge it
 
 
Alabama Insect Diversity:
 
  • Not many specifics are known about the insect diversity of Alabama, but there are an estimated 20,000 arthropod (larger group that includes insects, spiders, centipedes, crustaceans, etc.) species present in the state. 
     
  • Alabama is home to roughly 150 species of butterflies.
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Dreamstime
Click on image to enlarge it
     
 
 
Alabama Mammal Diversity:
 
  • 62 native species
    • 22 species of rodents
    • 16 species of bats
    • 11 species of carnivores (meat eaters)
Baby Raccoon
Dreamstime
Click on image to enlarge it
 
 
Alabama Freshwater Invertebrate Diversity:
 
  • 180 species of freshwater mussels
    • #1 for freshwater mussel diversity in the United States!
  • 102 species of freshwater snails
    • #1 for freshwater snail diversity in the United States!
  • 83 species of crayfish
    • #1 for crayfish diversity in the United States!
Tulatoma Snail
Flickr - US Fish & Wildlife Service
Click on image to enlarge it
 
 
Alabama Reptile Diversity:
 
 
  • 31 species of turtles
    • #1 for turtle diversity in the United States!
  • 50 species of snakes
  • 16 species of lizards
Green Anole
Dreamstime
Click on image to enlarge it


For more detailed information about the diversity of wildlife in Alabama, visit our Alabama's Native Wildlife webpage.

 
  
 
Plants
 
Alabama Plant Diversity:
 
  • Alabama is home to over 3,000 species of native plants.
    • 28 of those species are endemic (found only in Alabama)
  • #9 in overall plant diversity in the United States!
  • #2 in carnivorous plant diversity in the United States!
    • 31 species of carnivorous plants
  • #1 in pitcher plant diversity in the United States!

Density Gradient of Native Vascular Plant Species
Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C.
Click on image to enlarge it
  
For more detailed information about the diversity of plants in Alabama, visit our Alabama's Native Plants webpage.
 
 

SOURCES USED FOR THIS PAGE:
 
 

Outdoor Alabama
     

Animal Diversity Web		  
 
     
Burke Museum		  
 
 
 
     
 
 
     
 
  

The University of Alabama
 
The Nature Conservancy		  
 

Alabama Plant Atlas		    
     
Biodiversity Mapping Permission Details:

Text and images on the Biodiversity Mapping website are for the personal, not-for-profit use by students, scholars, educational institutions, and the public. Any such use must name "BiodiversityMapping.org" as the source for the material, with acknowledgement of BirdLife International, IUCN, NatureServe, and USGS for their contribution of the species range map data used in producing these derived works. No further permission is needed for educational use.

Commercial use, electronic re-publication, or print publication of text or images is strictly prohibited without prior written permission.

Jenkins, CN, KS Van Houtan, SL Pimm, JO Sexton (2015) US protected lands mismatch biodiversity priorities. PNAS 112(16), pp.5081-5086.
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