NJ STATE THREATENED While a common species in the 1700’s and 1800’s, by the 20th century red-headed woodpeckers had suffered population declines due to road strikes, competition with invasive bird species for habitats, and harvesting to provide feathers for hats. Due to population declines, the red-headed woodpecker was listed as a threatened species in New Jersey in 1979. In addition, the National Audubon Society has recognized the red-headed woodpecker as a species of special concern since 1982, and the bird is considered rare in the Northeastern U.S.

PENDING: U.S. THREATENED LISTING In the last 20 years, the population of monarch butterflies in the eastern U.S. has declined by 90 percent, due almost entirely to loss of their overwintering habitat in Mexico and of their host plant, milkweed. The plummeting population of this familiar butterfly, along with the decline of many other butterflies and bees, threatens the wellbeing of people as well, because the food security of humans is dependent on the ecological services that pollinators provide.

NJ STATE ENDANGERED In New Jersey, a once large population of bobcats was decimated at the turn of the century as forests were cleared for lumber, fuel and charcoal, and land was converted to agricultural use. The species was listed as endangered in NJ in June of 1991. The constant threat from habitat loss and fragmentation, changes in land use, the existence of barriers to free movement and automobile collisions on our busy and abundant roadways will likely limit the growth of NJ’s bobcat population unless we can effectively reconnect areas of suitable habitat and enable them to move safely through the landscape.

NJ STATE ENDANGERED Due to its restricted range within the state and the severe threats of habitat loss and pesticide use, the blue-spotted salamander was listed as an endangered species in New Jersey in 1974. Blue-Spotted Salamanders can only breed in very specific woodland ponds for a few weeks of the year, and the salamanders return to the same breeding ponds annually. Our expanding network of roads has also negatively impacted this species by impeding salamander movements into these breeding ponds and increasing the number of salamanders hit by vehicles annually.

(Speyeria cybele)

(Erythemis simplicicollis)

(Viburnum trilobum)

(Selaginella rupestris)

(Tamias stratus)

(Terrapene carolina)

(Lithobates pipiens)

(Papilio glaucous)

(Euonymus americanus)

(Danaus plexippus)

(Asclepias incarnata)

(Enallagma laterale)

(Accipiter cooperii)

(Podilymbus podiceps)

(Cercis canadensis)

(Asclepias quadrifolia)

(Genus: Agapostemon)

(Asclepias tuberosa and Spiraea tomentosa)

(Phyciodes tharos)

(Papilio troilus)

(Epargyreus clarus)

(Papilio glaucus)

Rosa carolina and Toxomerus marginatus