This article was featured in the 2025 Autumn Newsletter by Mitch O’Neil, NYNHP iMapInvasives.
The SLELO region hosts many unique natural communities (groupings of plants and animals that occur together and share a common environment). For example, several are associated with the globally rare alvars, limestone plains which occur around the Great Lakes and create unique conditions for rare plants like the state endangered lesser fringed gentian (Gentianopsis virgata ssp. virgata) pictured.
Invasive plants like swallowwort (Vincetoxicum spp.) also establish in these habitats, outcompeting and displacing native vegetation, including rare plants. This is not an isolated phenomenon; interactions like this between invasive species and native biodiversity are seen across the region and state. Pictured is an iMap record of swallowwort growing in an alvar grassland.
The New York Natural Heritage Program (NYNHP) collects and maintains data on native species and natural communities across the state, focusing on those that are rare or in decline. This includes threatened and endangered plant and wildlife species.
NYNHP also administers iMapInvasives as the invasive species database for the state, and analyzes how invasive species intersect with rare species. This includes a map viewer shared with PRISM staff, highlighting areas with invasive species occurring near rare species populations.
PRISMs use this information to target their invasive species management efforts to protect biodiversity. For example, SLELO prioritizes invasive species removals and suppression in areas with rare native species and ecological communities threatened by impacts from invasive species.
To learn more about rare species and significant natural communities in New York, visit the New York Natural Heritage website or the following publicly available resources:
Conservation Guides: informational profiles on many of the rare species and significant natural communities in the state.
DEC’s Environmental Resource Mapper: includes generalized rare and protected species locations.
Map of Significant Natural Communities: on the NYS GIS clearinghouse.
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