 
ENDANGERED PLANT SPECIES POPULATIONS IN NEW JERSEY: HEALTH AND
THREATS
Thomas
F. Breden, M.S.*
New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Natural and Historic Resources Group
Parks and Forestry Office of Natural Lands Management Natural
Heritage Program
Jean
Marie Hartman, Ph.D., Marielle Anzelone, M.S., and Jay F. Kelly
Rutgers - The State University of New Jersey
Department of Landscape Architecture
Prepared for the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection
Office of Policy, Planning and Science
Division of Science, Research and Technology
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New
Jersey’s Plant Diversity
New Jersey has a surprisingly high concentration of native plant
and animal species relative to other states. Its native flora,
comprised of more than 2,100 species, has representatives of more
than 50% of the plant species found in the northeast from Pennsylvania
to Maine (Fernald 1950 cf. Countryman 1977), despite the fact
that it contains a mere 5% of the total land area of the region.
Similarly, according to the 2000 U.S. Census, although it amounts
to less than 0.26% of the total land area in the United States,
and is the fourth smallest state in the nation, approximately
13% of the plant species in the U.S. can be found in New Jersey
(Master et al. 2000).
In large part, this high diversity is due to
the variety of habitats and landscapes that exist in New Jersey,
from the mountainous Ridge and Valley in the north, to the Outer
Coastal Plain in the south. Five such physiographic provinces
can be found within the state, all within an hour’s drive
of each other, and the unique combination of geological, topographical,
and hydrological features that each of these represents has
given rise to a wide range of environmental conditions within
them, and a tremendous diversity in the state overall (Collins
and Anderson 1994).
These unique habitats, in turn, have provided
the necessary conditions for a remarkable array of native species,
communities and ecosystems.
To learn more about the Endangered Plant Species
Populations in New Jersey; Health and Threats, please select
the links below for the report in it's entirety.
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For
more information regarding this report, please contact
Bob Cartica. |
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