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Idaho is diverse not only in its plant and animals species, but in its topography, geology, and climate. Northern Idaho is mountainous and covered by coniferous forests dotted with pristine lakes, while Southern Idaho couldn’t be more different, with vast prairies, farms, and desert covered by sagebrush. Northern Idaho is home to Douglas fir, Engelmann spruce, and other cone-bearing softwood trees. Southern and central Idaho is prized for its rich soil, known as loess, which is a mixture of volcanic deposits and windblown materials.
Idaho is ranked 25 against other U.S. states in terms of species diversity. It’s also ranked 22 for risk levels, 51 (last) for species extinction, and 14 for endemism. The state known for its potatoes is home to the endangered Idaho springsnail and the white bark pine. The white bark pine is considered a keystone species—it both depends on another species and other species depend on it for survival. Since the tree’s pine cones are hard and won’t break upon falling from the tree, it depends on Clark’s nutcrackers to crack open the cone and disperse the seeds. The nutcrackers then depend on the tree for food. The white bark pine population is currently in decline.
