The checklists here were developed over a period of time and may or may not represent the current state of knowledge. Consider them a starting point for each taxon. Those finding species not on the checklists are encouraged to submit those observations to RINHS so we can improve the lists.
They are posted here primarily for use by Rhode Island BioBlitz team members but may be useful for others.
The vascular flora checklist we use is Lisa L. Gould, Richard W. Enser, Richard E. Champlin, and Irene H. Stuckey, 1998, Vascular Flora of Rhode Island: A List of Native and Naturalized Plants, Rhode Island Natural History Survey. It is available from RINHS, $10.00 + tax and S&H.
Just the species list from this volume is available as a rather large excel workbook with species sorted different ways.
Vascular Flora of RI, List Only .xls:3.1MB
The main reference for vertebrates is Peter V. August, Richard W. Enser, and Lisa L. Gould, 2001, Vertebrates of Rhode Island, Rhode Island Natural History Survey. This volume includes sections on fresh and salt water fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. It is available from RINHS, $18.00 + tax and S&H.
Checklists of some vertebrate taxa, extracted from Vertebrates of RI and with some modifications to make them more fun for BioBlitz, are available for download.
- Saltwater Fish of RI PDF:200K
- Herptiles (Amphibians & Reptiles) of RI PDF:60K
- For up-to-date bird checklists in a variety of formats, you don’t have to go any further than Paul L’Etoile’s excellent RIBird website.
- Mammals of RI PDF:96K
Checklist of Rhode Island Butterflies
Harry Pavulaan and David W. Gregg, 2007, published by RINHS. PDF:300K
Also, to narrow things down further, we use this BioBlitz Butterfly Flight List, provided by Harry Pavuulan. PDF:30K
For beetles we use Derek Sikes, 2004, The Beetle Fauna of Rhode Island: An Annotated Checklist, Rhode Island Natural History Survey. Available from RINHS, $39.95 + tax and S&H