The environment of Iowa has been heavily affected by agricultural production since it became a U.S. state in 1846. However, there remain natural areas in Iowa that reflect a wide varieties of environmental niches.
Ecology and biota
Iowa's natural vegetation is tallgrass prairie and savanna in upland areas, with dense forest and wetlands in floodplains and protected river valleys, and pothole wetlands in northern prairie areas. Most of Iowa is used for agriculture, crops cover 60% of the state, grasslands (mostly pasture and hay with some prairie and wetland) cover 30%, and forests cover 7%; urban areas and water cover another 1% each.
Presettlement biota
In 1840 Isaac Galland noted a large number of fauna in Iowa, including bison, elk, deer (either white-tailed deer or mule deer), raccoon, fox squirrel, mountain lion, lynx, gray wolf, black wolf, coyote (he called them prairie wolves), bear, beaver, otter, muskrat, mink, rabbits (presumably cottontail rabbit and hare), opossum, skunk, porcupine, groundhog, timber rattlesnake, prairie rattlesnake, bull snake, black snake, water moccasin, garter snake, water snakes, turkey, prairie chicken, quail, swan, geese, brant goose, duck, crane (he called them pelicans), crow, blackbird, bald eagle, "grey eagle" (probably a hawk or falcon), buzzard, raven, mourning dove, passenger pigeon, woodpeckers, woodcocks, hummingbird, and the honeybee. Galland also included a list of edible flora readily available in Iowa, including strawberry, blackberry, raspberry, gooseberry, plum, crabapple, hickory nut, black walnut, butternut, hazelnut, pecan, grape, cherry, black haw, red haw, pawpaw, and cranberry.
The first comprehensive listing of bird species in Iowa was compiled by Charles Rollin Keyes in 1889 which listed 262 species. The first comprehensive listing of mammals in Iowa was made by Herbert Osborne in 1890.
Natural areas
There is a dearth of natural areas in Iowa; less than 1% of the tallgrass prairie that once covered most of Iowa remain intact, only about 5% of the state's prairie pothole wetlands remain, and most of the original forest has been lost. Iowa ranks 49th of U.S. states in public land holdings.
Threatened and endangered species
As of 2016, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service the lists of threatened and endangered species in Iowa have included the following:
Federally endangered animal species: Indiana bat (Myotis sodalis) Higgins eye pearly mussel (Lampsilis higginsii) Topeka shiner (Notropis topeka) Iowa Pleistocene snail (Discus macclintocki) Pallid sturgeon (Scaphirhynchus albus) Least interior tern (Sterna antillarum) Sheepnose Mussel (Plethobasus cyphyus) Spectaclecase (mussel) (Cumberlandia monodonta) Poweshiek Skipperling, (Oarisma poweshiek) (3 more since 2010)
Federally threatened animal species: Piping plover (Charadrius melodus), except Great Lakes watershed Northern long-eared bat (Myotis septentrionalis) Skipper, Dakota (Hesperia dacotae)
Extirpated federally endangered animal species:
Locally extinguished animals are: American burying beetle (Nicrophorus americanus) Winged mapleleaf mussel (Quadrula fragosa) Scaleshell mussel (Leptodea leptodon) Orange-footed pimpleback mussel (Plethobasus cooperianus) Fat pocketbook pearly mussel (Potamilus capax) Gray wolf (Canis lupus)* Gray western Great Lakes wolf (Canis lupus) Bat, Indiana entire (Myotis sodalis) Note: Wolves occasionally reappear in Iowa, roaming south from home ranges in Minnesota and Wisconsin.
Federally threatened plant species: Prairie bush-clover (Lespedeza leptostachya) Mead's milkweed (Asclepias meadii) Northern wild monkshood (Aconitum noveboracense) Eastern prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera leucophaea) Western prairie fringed orchid (Platanthera praeclara)
Extinct animal species (historical):
Carolina parakeet (Conuropsis carolinensis) Passenger pigeon (Ectopistes migratorius)