State Wildife Action Plan Priority Ranks
Source: Pennsylvania State Wildlife Action Plan
TIERING Comprehensive Wildlife Conservation Strategy-PRIORITY SPECIES IN PENNSYLVANIA
Conservation Tier 1: Immediate Concern
This tier is generally comprised of those species that are most at
risk and/or are experiencing the most dramatic declines across their range.
“Red species” include globally rare or imperiled species, nationally rare or
imperiled species, as well as those species in PA and/or the northeastern U.S.
that are declining to the point of requiring Federal listing in the near future.
Species were included in this list if they fit within any of the following status
categories:
- Natural Heritage Global rank of G1-G3
- Federally Endangered/Threatened or Federally-Proposed Endangered/Threatened
- Northeast Region priority species warranting Federal pre-listing status reviews
and/or listing consideration (as determined by the Northeast Non-game Technical Committee)
- Partners in Flight priority I (High Continental Importance) and/or IIA (High Regional
Concern) that are critically imperiled in PA (S1)
- PA “Responsibility” species that are critically imperiled in PA (S1). (Responsibility
species are those species in which core populations occur in PA and/or a significant
proportion (> 5-10%) of the regional population occurs in PA so that PA has a high
responsibility for conserving the species.)
- Pennsylvania Endangered - if the loss of the species in PA will have a significant
regional, national or global impact (i.e. the PA occurrence represents a disjunct
or peripheral population that is likely genetically distinct)
- Expert opinion regarding mitigating factors, such as species distribution and abundance,
severity of threatening processes, rate of decline, etc
Congress has stated repeatedly that the overall goal of the State Wildlife
Grants program is endangered species prevention. Although Federally-listed species
are included in this Conservation Tier, it is expected that SWG funds will be
directed primarily to those species which currently do not receive conservation
funding through other Federal programs such as the Endangered Species Act.
The goal in managing these species is to increase populations and protect
key habitats to the point that Federal listing can be prevented (and ideally, reversed).
These species likely will require direct and focused management attention at both
the species and habitat level. Responsibility species that fall within the Immediate
Concern category represent the highest-priority targets for the CWCS for they
represent the most critical conservation issues in the Commonwealth – imperiled
species for which Pennsylvania has high responsibility. Responsibility species
are indicated by an “R” in the following listings.
Conservation Tier 2 - High-level Concern
This tier is comprised of nationally and/or regionally significant species that
are vulnerable in Pennsylvania. “Orange species” include species with small,
localized and vulnerable populations, species with limited dispersal, species
with fragmented or isolated populations, and/or species in need of additional
research to determine status. Species were included in this list if they fit
within any of the following status categories:
- Natural Heritage Global rank of G4 / Natural Heritage State rank of S1-S2
- Partners in Flight Priority I (high continental importance), IIA species that are vulnerable in PA (S2S3)
- Partners in Flight Tier IIB, IIC species that are imperiled in PA (S1)
- Northeast Region priority species that are imperiled (S1) or vulnerable (S2S3) in PA
- “Responsibility” species (i.e. core populations occur in PA) that are vulnerable in PA (S2S3)
- Regionally-significant species likely to be experiencing declines/vulnerability, but information lacking to determine status
- Pennsylvania Threatened – if the disjunct or peripheral population in PA is likely to be genetically distinct
- Species in need of additional research to determine status (SU)
- Expert opinion regarding mitigating factors, such as species distribution and abundance, severity of threatening processes, rate of decline, etc.
Goals in managing these species are: 1) to gather adequate information to
make a status determination and 2) to ensure the continued viability of populations
and protect key habitats to the point that vulnerable populations are secure and
risks are minimized to the extent feasible. Many of these species will require
direct and focused habitat management and protection in order for their populations
to be stabilized. Responsibility species that fall within the High Level Concern
category represent high-priority targets for the CWCS. Responsibility species are
indicated by an ‘R’ in the following listings.
Conservation Tier 3 – Responsibility Species
Responsibility species are those species in which core populations occur
in PA and/or a significant proportion (> 5-10%) of the regional population occurs
in PA so that PA has a high responsibility for conserving the species. This
conservation tier includes species which may be relatively abundant and/or
locally common AND for which Pennsylvania serves as a “population core,” i.e.
a significant proportion of the species’ population occurs in the Commonwealth.
- “Responsibility” species (i.e. core populations occur in PA) that are apparently secure in PA (S4, S5).
- Expert opinion regarding mitigating factors, such as species distribution and abundance, severity of threatening processes, rate of decline, long-term outlook, etc.
Inclusion in this conservation tier implies that Pennsylvania has a high global,
national or regional responsibility for maintaining the species. Therefore, the
main focus in managing these species is to ensure the continued viability of core
populations, protect key habitats, and establish monitoring efforts as needed. It
is anticipated that responsibility species which are still currently abundant can
be protected through prudent attention to habitat management.
Conservation Tier 4 – Pennsylvania Vulnerable
This tier is comprised of those species that are most at risk and/or are
experiencing the most dramatic declines within the borders of the Commonwealth,
but are not at risk at the regional, national, or global level.
- Natural Heritage Global rank of G5 AND State rank of S1 or S2 (if the PA population is not believed to be genetically distinct)
- Natural Heritage Global rank of G4 AND State rank of S3, SZ, and/or PC (if the PA population is not believed to be genetically distinct)
- Partners in Flight priority IIB, IIC species that are vulnerable in PA (S3)
- Pennsylvania Endangered - if the loss of the species in PA has limited global, national, or regional impact, i.e. the disjunct or peripheral population in PA is unlikely to be genetically distinct
- PA Threatened – if the disjunct or peripheral population in PA is unlikely to be genetically distinct
- Peripheral species – species that are rare in PA but are secure in their core range
- Pennsylvania Candidate species
- Expert opinion regarding mitigating factors, such as species distribution and abundance, severity of threatening processes, rate of decline, etc
This tier represents an important management dilemma involving the trade-off between
protecting endangered/rare “oddities” versus proactively managing species for which
PA serves an important role in their survival. One of the management needs for this
group of species is to conduct genetic analysis to determine whether Pennsylvania
populations are genetically unique from those in the rest of the species’ range.
Technical committees of the Pennsylvania Biological Survey, and other taxonomic
experts, will assist the Commissions in identifying the issues involving peripheral
species and determining the appropriate management response within the Commonwealth
on a species-by-species basis.
Conservation Tier 5 – Maintenance Concern
This conservation priority tier represents species that are fairly secure in
Pennsylvania, but for which the PA Biological Survey recommends some level of
management attention. Many of these species, although still considered abundant
and fairly secure, have undergone recent declines that should be addressed.
Species also were included in this tier if they serve as an indicator for high-quality
habitats. Species were included in this list if they fit within any of the following
status categories:
- Partners in Flight Priority I, IIA species that are apparently secure in PA (S4, S5)
- Partners in Flight priority IIB, IIC species that are apparently secure in PA (S4,S5)
- Northeast Region priority species that are apparently secure in PA (S4)
- Flagship or indicator species that may be used to monitor the effectiveness of habitat management efforts.
The main focus in managing these species is to ensure the continued viability of
core populations, protect key habitats, and establish monitoring efforts as needed.
It is anticipated that most of these species can be protected through prudent attention
to habitat management.