Status Definitions

Based on information supplied by:
Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources - Bureau of Endangered Resources (except Excluded species)

Endangered (END) – Wisconsin Endangered Species: any species whose continued existence as a viable component of the state’s wild animals or wild plants is determined by the Department [Wisconsin DNR] to be in jeopardy on the basis of scientific evidence (statute 29.604).

Threatened (THR) – Wisconsin Threatened Species: any species which appears likely, within the foreseeable future, on the basis of scientific evidence to become endangered (statute 29.604).

Special Concern (SC) – Species about which some problem of abundance or distribution is suspected but not yet proved. The main purpose of this category is to focus attention on certain species before they become threatened or endangered.

Extirpated (X) - Native Wisconsin species now thought to be extinct in Wisconsin.

Ecologically Invasive - Species able to invade wild areas and outcompete native species, degrading habitats and causing extensive ecological damage.

Excluded - Many mistaken reports have appeared in the literature, and for that reason we have listed a number of species as Excluded to call attention to records and reports that are doubtful, incorrect, or unvouchered by herbarium specimens. More often than not, excluded taxa are due to nomenclatural changes over the years, such as the discovery that a certain name has been misapplied, or simply errors in identification.

All other status definitions (PDF -4.3M) are found in the Checklist of the Vascular Plants of Wisconsin, DNR Tech. Bul. No. 192, 2001. Some of the nomenclature and status' have changed since this publication but the methods are essentially the same.