Biodiversity of Connecticut: Rolling Hills and Watersheds

The state of Connecticut is divided into rivers, lakes, salt- and fresh-water wetlands, moderate hills, and forests. Significant areas of biodiversity include the Long Island Sound, Connecticut River Valley and watershed, and Litchfield Hills, which is part of the Appalachian Trail. Connecticut is home to a vast amount of endangered, threatened, and hard-to-find species.

Litchfield Hills encompasses 25 towns in northwestern Connecticut and is home to one-fourth of the state’s biodiversity. The region is known for rolling hills and rural scenery.

The Connecticut River watershed is home to ten species considered to be threatened or endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). This includes three birds—the piping plover, peregrine falcon, and the American bald eagle; one fish—the shortnose sturgeon; one insect—the Puritan tiger beetle; one mussel—the dwarf wedge mussel; and four plants—the small whorled pogonia, Jesup’s milkvetch, Robbin’s cinquefoil, and northern bulrush.

The Jesup’s milkvetch is a plant that lives only in the Connecticut River watershed. It is threatened by habitat alteration and is frequently trampled by hikers or people canoeing on the river.

The Long Island Sound spans all of Connecticut’s southern coastline and is home to over 1,200 invertebrates, 170 species of fish, and many other birds, mammals, and reptiles. It is an estuary—a blend of freshwater and saltwater—that was formed from retreating glaciers. The blood sea star, paddle worm, frilled anemone, red-gilled nudibranch, winter flounder, loggerhead turtle, and roseate tern can all be found in the sound.

Besides for the previous listed areas, the Department of Environmental Protection identified twelve key habitats for preservation in Connecticut. These habitats include: upland forest, upland woodland and shrub, upland herbaceous, forested inland wetland, shrub inland wetland, herbaceous inland wetland, sparsely vegetated inland wetland, tidal wetland, freshwater aquatic, estuarine aquatic, unique and man-made, and intensely managed habitats.

Even though these habitats may sound similar, they have their own characteristics and are home to a number of specialized. For instance, intensely managed habitats need humans to graze, burn, or clear the area in order for the area to closely keep to its original ecology. Sparsely populated vegetative wetland includes surface springs and vernal pools and is a favorite habitat for barred owls, Indiana bats, eastern newts, and American woodcocks.