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Investigate Alabama’s BiodiversityThe 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!
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.
For more detailed information, visit our
Alabama’s Native Wildlife webpage
For more detailed information, visit our
Alabama’s Native Plants webpage
Amphibian Diversity
BiodiversityMapping.org – Clinton N. Jenkins (Florida International University, Saving Nature)
Permission Details
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.
Fish Diversity
BiodiversityMapping.org – Clinton N. Jenkins (Florida International University, Saving Nature)
Permission Details
Black Swallowtail Butterfly
Dreamstime
Baby Raccoon
Dreamstime
Tulatoma Snail
Flickr – US Fish & Wildlife Service
Green Anole
Dreamstime
For more detailed information about the diversity of wildlife in Alabama, visit our Alabama’s Native Wildlife webpage.
Density Gradient of Native Vascular Plant Species
The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. – Kartesz, J.T.
For more detailed information about the diversity of plants in Alabama, visit our Alabama’s Native Plants webpage.
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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