The Chicago Region covered by vPlants includes four states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Each state has their own ranking system and different protection laws or methods associated with those ranks. In addition, the U.S. federal government has lists of species for the whole country. The taxa on these lists are often referred collectively by the following categories: Species of Concern, Sensitive Species, or T and E species (short for threatened and endangered species).
For The vPlants Project, we have compiled a list of Chicago Region Plants of Concern that are listed for any of the four states of the area (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Wisconsin), plus the federal listed species. View further information about this list as well as visit the state and federal web sites using the links on this page.
Yes, see links on this page. Here in the Midwest, as of 2006, Minnesota is the only state that has listed threatened and endangered fungi. The U.S. Federal listing includes 2 lichens (lichenized fungi). Many European countries have Red Lists for fungi. As with the plants, if any fungi become listed for our region then vPlants will add the Regional Conservation Status section for those species.
Information provided on this page applies to the Chicago Region and may not be relevant or complete for other regions.