| Listed Species in Decatur
County | ||||
| Species | Federal Status | State Status | Habitat | Threats |
| Bird | ||||
| Bald eagle Haliaeetus leucocephalus | T | E | Inland waterways and estuarine areas in Georgia. Active eagle nests were located in Decatur County in 1988 and 1990-1999 and 2000-2002. | Major factor in initial decline was lowered reproductive success following use of DDT. Current threats include habitat destruction, disturbance at the nest, illegal shooting, electrocution, impact injuries, and lead poisoning. |
| Red-cockaded
woodpecker Picoides borealis | E | E | Nest in mature pine with low understory vegetation (<1.5m); forage in pine and pine hardwood stands > 30 years of age, preferably > 10" dbh | Reduction of older age pine stands and to encroachment of hardwood midstory in older age pine stands due to fire suppression |
| Wood
stork Mycteria americana | E | E | Primarily feed in fresh and brackish wetlands and nest in cypress or other wooded swamps | Decline due primarily to loss of suitable feeding habitat, particularly in south Florida. Other factors include loss of nesting habitat, prolonged drought/flooding, raccoon predation on nests, and human disturbance of rookeries. |
| Reptile | ||||
| Alligator snapping turtle Macroclemys temminckii | No Federal Status | T | Rivers, lakes, and large ponds near stream swamps. | Destruction and modification of habitat and overharvesting. |
|
Barbour's map turtle | No Federal Status | T | Restricted
to the Apalachicola River and larger tributaries including the Chipola, Chattahoochee, and Flint Rivers in eastern Alabama, western Georgia, and western Florida. | |
| Eastern indigo snake Drymarchon corais couperi | T | T | During winter, den in xeric sandridge habitat preferred by gopher tortoises; during warm months, forage in creek bottoms, upland forests, and agricultural fields | Habitat loss due to uses such as farming, construction, forestry, and pasture and to overcollecting for the pet trade |
| Gopher tortoise
Gopherus polyphemus | No Federal Status | T | Well-drained, sandy soils in forest and grassy areas; associated with pine overstory, open understory with grass and forb groundcover, and sunny areas for nesting | Habitat loss and conversion to closed canopy forests. Other threats include mortality on highways and the collection of tortoises for pets. |
| Amphibian | ||||
| Georgia blind salamander Haideotriton wallacei | No Federal Status | T | Subterranean waters of upland limestone karst system; restricted to Dougherty Plain region of Georgia | |
| Invertebrate | ||||
| Fat three-ridge mussel Amblema neislerii | E | E | Main channels of small to large rivers with slow to moderate currents, in substrates ranging from gravel to a rocky rubble mixture of sand and sandy mud to a mixture of sand, sandy/clay substrates | Habitat modification, sedimentation, and water quality degradation |
| Gulf
moccasinshell mussel Medionidus penicillatus | E | E | Medium streams to large rivers with slight to moderate current over sand and gravel substrates; may be associated with muddy sand substrates around tree roots | Habitat modification, sedimentation, and water quality degradation |
| Oval
pigtoe mussel Pleurobema pyriforme | E | E | River tributaries and main channels in slow to moderate currents over silty sand, muddy sand, sand, and gravel substrates | Habitat modification, sedimentation, and water quality degradation |
| Purple
bankclimber mussel Elliptoideus sloatianus | T | T | Main channels of ACF basin rivers in moderate currents over sand, sand mixed with mud, or gravel substrates | Habitat modification, sedimentation, and water quality degradation |
| Shiny-rayed
pocketbook mussel Lampsilis subangulata | E | E | Medium creeks to the mainstems of rivers with slow to moderate currents over sandy substrates and associated with rock or clay | Habitat modification, sedimentation, and water quality degradation |
| Fish | ||||
| Alabama Shad Alosa Alabamae | Candidate | Candidate | ||
| Bluestripe shiner Cyprinella callitaenia | No Federal Status | T | Brownwater streams | |
| Plant | ||||
| Bay star-vine Schisandra glabra | No Federal Status | T | Twining on subcanopy and understory trees/shrubs in rich alluvial woods | |
| Buckthorn Sideroxylon thornei | No Federal Status | E | Oak flatwoods where soil normally is saturated for long periods after floods/heavy rain (i.e., calcareous swamps; woods bordering cypress ponds) | |
| Climbing buckthorn Sageretia minutiflora | No Federal Status | T | Calcareous rocky bluffs, forested shell middens on barrier islands, and evergreen hammocks along streambanks and coastal marshes | |
| Croomia Croomia pauciflora | No Federal Status | T | Rich moist deciduous woodlands, ravines, and river bluffs, often with ginseng | |
| Curtiss loosestrife Lythrum curtissii | No Federal Status | T | Swamps over limestone, boggy open areas in pinelands, shallow water of wet thickets and floodplains, and occasionally in openings along right-of-ways | |
| Florida anise-tree Illicium floridanum | No Federal Status | E | Moist wooded ravines and seepages along small streams | |
| Florida torreya Torreya taxifolia | E | E | Beech-magnolia forests and mixed hardwoods on middle slopes of steep ravines with nearly permanent seepage (steepheads) | A disease (first observed in late 1950's that killed all mature trees) that kills needles and stems, causing defoliation and tree death |
| Fringed
campion Silene polypetala | E | E | Mature hardwood or hardwood-pine forests on river bluffs, small stream terraces, moist slopes and well-shaded ridge crests; two Decatur County populations last observed in 1993 and 1994 | Residential development, logging, and spread of Japanese honeysuckle |
| Lax
Water-milfoil Myriophyllum laxum | No Federal Status | T | Sinkholes and other shallow freshwater pools; also sandy clear streams draining spring-fed swamps | |
| Narrowleaf
obedient plant Physostegia leptophylla | No Federal Status | T | Wet muck or peat in shallow water of river swamp openings and in the margins of both fresh and brackish (tidal) marshes | |
| Pondspice Litsea aestivalis | No Federal Status | T | Margins of swamps, cypress ponds, and sandhill depression ponds and in hardwood swamps | |