Upper Grades Ecosystem Investigation: Alabama's Biodiversity

Investigate Alabama's Biodiversity

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.


Wildlife	Plants

For more detailed information, visit our Alabama's Native Wildlife webpage	For more detailed information, visit our Alabama's Native Plants webpage

Wildlife

Alabama Amphibian Diversity:
Frogs: 30 species Salamanders: 43 species The southeastern United States has more amphibian diversity than anywhere else in the world!	Amphibian Diversity BiodiversityMapping.org – Clinton N. Jenkins (Florida International University, Saving Nature) Permission Details Click on image to enlarge it

Alabama Bird Diversity:

420 species
- 178 species breed in Alabama (remain in Alabama throughout the year)
- 174 species winter in Alabama (breed in other locations)
- 80 species migrate through Alabama

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.

Alabama Fish Diversity:
450 species #1 for diversity in the United States! 38% of the North American fish species are native to Alabama	Fish Diversity BiodiversityMapping.org – Clinton N. Jenkins (Florida International University, Saving Nature) Permission Details Click on image to enlarge it

Alabama Insect Diversity:
Not many specifics are known about the insect diversity of Alabama, but there are an estimated 20,000 arthropod (larger group that includes insects, spiders, centipedes, crustaceans, etc.) species present in the state. Alabama is home to roughly 150 species of butterflies.		Black Swallowtail Butterfly Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it

Alabama Mammal Diversity:
62 native species 22 species of rodents 16 species of bats 11 species of carnivores		Baby Raccoon Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it

Alabama Freshwater Invertebrate Diversity:
180 species of freshwater mussels #1 for freshwater mussel diversity in the United States! 102 species of freshwater snails #1 for freshwater snail diversity in the United States! 83 species of crayfish #1 for crayfish diversity in the United States!		Tulatoma Snail Flickr – US Fish & Wildlife Service Click on image to enlarge it

Alabama Reptile Diversity:

31 species of turtles #1 for turtle diversity in the United States! 50 species of snakes 16 species of lizards		Green Anole Dreamstime Click on image to enlarge it

For more detailed information about the diversity of wildlife in Alabama, visit our Alabama's Native Wildlife webpage.

Plants

Alabama Plant Diversity:
Alabama is home to over 3,000 species of native plants. 28 of those species are endemic (found only in Alabama) #9 in overall plant diversity in the United States! #2 in carnivorous plant diversity in the United States! 31 species of carnivorous plants #1 in pitcher plant diversity in the United States!		Density Gradient of Native Vascular Plant Species Kartesz, J.T., The Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2015. North American Plant Atlas. (http://bonap.net/napa). Chapel Hill, N.C. Click on image to enlarge it

For more detailed information about the diversity of plants in Alabama, visit our Alabama's Native Plants webpage.

SOURCES USED FOR THIS PAGE:

Encyclopedia of Alabama		Outdoor Alabama

Animal Diversity Web		Alabama Audubon

Burke Museum		Live Science

Florida Museum		Alabama Rivers Alliance

Center for Biological Diversity		BioKids

The University of Maine Cooperative Extension		The University of Alabama

The Nature Conservancy		Dr. R. Scot Duncan

Alabama Plant Atlas

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.

FOLLOW US

JOIN/RENEW

SHOP

QUICK LINKS

HABITAT LEARNING LAB:

Upper Grades Ecosystem Investigation: Alabama’s Biodiversity

CONTACT

QUICK LINKS

Alabama Nature Center

Alabama Outdoor Classroom

Resource Stewardship

Hunting & Angling

Wild Game Cook-Off

AWF News

ABOUT

Giving

Volunteer

Online Store

Rentals

Job Opportunities

MEMBERSHIP

Join / Renew

Wildlife Tag