The Checklist of Vermont Species (VTspecies) is aimed at being a comprehensive catalogue of all known species of organisms found in Vermont. Like all science, VTspecies is a work in progress. Many taxonomic groups remain deficient, and users will notice that many species are still missing from the database. Your contributions and feedback are essential to further improve the quality and taxonomic coverage of the VTspecies database.
The goal of the VTspecies is to list every distinct species in each taxonomic group from aphids to zooplankton. At present, some groups are complete, while others are lacking experts to help determine the faunal list for Vermont. Each species in the database is listed with an accepted scientific name, a cited reference and its position in the hierarchical classification. Additional common names and synonyms may be provided, but these data are not complete, and for some species none may exist.
For centuries, scientists have labored to discover and describe the diversity of life here in Vermont and beyond, and discoveries are still being made. The VTspecies database strives to gather and present this work in one place.
The VTspecies database uses a set of generally accepted references, augmented by recent scientific literature and expert opinion, to establish a standard scientific name for every species and their hierarchical classification. Generally, VTspecies follows the Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) for authoritative taxonomic information on plants, animals, and fungi of North America. Other sources of information used are listed.
Number of accepted species by higher taxon in the VTspecies database. There are 16,113 species recorded.
Count of species by kingdom in the VTspecies database.
Download the Checklist of Vermont Species
The entire dataset is available from the Global Biodiversity Information Infrastructure where you can view and download the dataset.
McFarland K, Sharp N, Loomis J (2019). Checklist of Vermont Species. Vermont Center for Ecostudies. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/nu60xi.
