The Number of Endangered Species in Each US State
Tools: R, QGIS
Notes:
This map depicts the number of endangered species in each US state. The
data in this map are based on the International Union for Conservation
of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species which classifies organisms by
their risk of global extinction. The species used to create this list
are categorized as either Endangered or Critically Endangered. The data
were pulled from the Global Biodiversity Information Facility which
houses publicly available species occurrence data from citizen science
projects such as iNaturalist and eBird as well as institutional and
governmental surveys. This map includes animal, fungi, and plant species
found in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. I created an older
version of this map around two years ago and thought that it was due for
an upgrade. I released this map today since it’s the 50th anniversary
of the signing of the US Endangered Species Act into law. We’ve come a
long way, but there is still more to be done in the way of protecting
species from extinction. As always if you have any praise, constructive
criticism or questions, let me know! I love hearing from you all!
