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This publication provides the most complete information available on the status of rare vertebrate species and vascular plant species in Wyoming. It updates and replaces previous lists (Fertig and Beauvais 1999, Fertig and Heidel 2002), and documents 473 plants and 125 vertebrates of conservation and management concern in Wyoming. For each species, a summary of factors used in weighing species’ status including distribution, abundance, trends, and intrinsic vulnerability, is also provided. Interest in rare species has increased substantially over the past 40 years, and currently there is broad support for the conservation of rare plants and animals in North America. Natural resource managers, policy makers, and...
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The northern leopard frog (Rana pipiens) is a formerly abundant frog that has experienced significant declines across its range and is considered endangered in some parts of the range but still abundant in other parts of the range. Various factors have been invoked to explain population declines in the northern leopard frog, including habitat destruction, diseases, chemical contamination, acidification, increased ultraviolet light due to loss of the ozone layer, introduced predators, overcollecting, climatic changes, and general environmental degradation. However, no one cause has emerged as the primary factor behind population declines in any area. Probably, multiple causes contribute to population...
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Myotis evotis (long-eared myotis), a former Category 2 Candidate, is currently recognized by several federal and state agencies as a sensitive species, in part because very little information exists to provide evaluations on population status and viability locally or rangewide. Primary threats to M. evotis are roost disturbance (especially that leading to loss or destruction of roosting structures), habitat alteration, and toxic chemicals. Roost disturbance (especially of maternity roosts and hibernacula) can take the form of direct human contact or alternation of the roost environment. Habitat alteration refers to modification of any component of the required habitat mosaic, (e.g., presence and quality...
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The pygmy rabbit (Brachylagus idahoensis) is the smallest of any North American rabbit species. It was first described as Lepus idahoensis in 1891 by Meriam (Meriam 1891). It is endemic to sagebrush habitats in the Great Basin and adjacent intermountain areas and typically occupies tall and dense sagebrush patches. Pygmy rabbits are dietary specialists on big sagebrush. They are considered a keystone species in big sagebrush communities because they don’t thrive in habitats dominated by other shrub species, they exhibit a unique fossorial behavior, other species of vertebrates and invertebrates use their extensive burrow system, and they provide a reliable food supply for terrestrial and avian predators...
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The Mountain Plover (Charadrius montanus) is and endemic shorebird species which breeds in grassland and shrubsteppe habitats of the western Great Plains and Colorado Plateau. Occurrences of this species in Wyoming are constrained to breeding and migration seasons. First described in 1837 by J. K. Townsend, from the tablelands of the Rocky Mountains in the region of the Sweetwater River, Wyoming (AOU 1983), this species is locally common and has been detected in every county of Wyoming. The Mountain Plover was proposed for listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 1999. The proposal for listing was withdrawn in 2003, as perceived threats to the species...
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