Editing Virginia (section)

===Ecosystem===
{{See also|List of endangered species in Virginia}}
[[File:White-tailed buck in foggy morning at Shenandoah National Park.jpeg|thumb|Up to 7,000 [[white-tailed deer]], also known as Virginia deer, live in [[Shenandoah National Park]].<ref name=gildard>{{Cite book |last1= Gildart |first1= Robert C. |first2= Jane |last2= Gildart |title= Hiking Shenandoah National Park |edition= 5 |publisher= Falcon Guides |location= Guilford, Connecticut |year= 2016 |isbn= 978-1-4930-1685-3 |page= 3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=kXSOCwAAQBAJ}}</ref>|alt=A red-brown colored deer with antlers stands in a meadow with high grasses.]]
Forests cover 62% of Virginia {{as of|2021|lc=on}}, of which 80% is considered [[hardwood]] forest, meaning that trees are primarily [[deciduous]] and [[Broad-leaved tree|broad-leaved]]. The other 20% is pine, with [[Pinus taeda|loblolly]] and [[Pinus echinata|shortleaf pine]] dominating much of central and eastern Virginia.<ref name=stateoftheforest>{{cite web |url= https://rga.lis.virginia.gov/Published/2022/RD282 |title= State of the Forest Annual Report on Virginia's Forests – 2021 |date= 2022 |first= Rob |last= Farrell|publisher= Virginia Department of Forestry |access-date= February 7, 2023}}</ref> In the western and mountainous parts of the Commonwealth, oak and hickory are most common, while lower altitudes are more likely to have small but dense stands of hemlocks and mosses in abundance.<ref name=Burnham>{{harvnb|Burnham|Burnham|2018|pp=xvii–xxi, 64}}</ref> [[Gypsy moths in the United States|Spongy moth infestations]] in oak trees and the [[chestnut blight|blight in chestnut trees]] have decreased both of their numbers, leaving more room for hickory and the invasive [[Ailanthus altissima|tree of heaven]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.wdbj7.com/content/news/Gyspy-Moths-on-wide-destructive-path-in-Southwest-Virginia-390498551.html |title= Gyspy Moths on wide, destructive path in Southwest Virginia |website= WDBJ-TV |first= Justin |last= Ward |date= August 17, 2016 |access-date= May 14, 2020}}</ref><ref name=Burnham/> In the lowland tidewater and [[Piedmont (United States)|Piedmont]], yellow pines tend to dominate, with bald cypress wetland forests in the Great Dismal and Nottoway swamps.<ref name=stateoftheforest/> Other common trees include red spruce, [[Chamaecyparis thyoides|Atlantic white cedar]], [[Liriodendron tulipifera|tulip-poplar]], and the [[Cornus florida|flowering dogwood]], the [[List of U.S. state and territory trees|state tree and flower]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://dof.virginia.gov/wp-content/uploads/Common-Native-Trees-ID_pub.pdf |title= Common Native Trees of Virginia |publisher= Virginia Department of Forestry |date= April 30, 2020 |access-date= August 17, 2021}}</ref> Plants like [[Asclepias|milkweed]], dandelions, daisies, ferns, and [[Parthenocissus quinquefolia|Virginia creeper]], which is featured on the [[Flag of Virginia|state flag]], are also common.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.pwconserve.org/plants/ |title= Wildflowers of Northern Virginia |website= Prince William Conservation Alliance |date= May 5, 2016 |access-date= August 17, 2021}}</ref> The [[G. Richard Thompson Wildlife Management Area|Thompson Wildlife Area]] in [[Fauquier County, Virginia|Fauquier]] is known for having one of the largest populations of [[Trillium grandiflorum|trillium wildflowers]] in North America.<ref name=Burnham/>

[[White-tailed deer]], one of 75 mammal species found in Virginia, rebounded from an estimated population of as few as 25,000 in the 1930s to over one million by the 2010s.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.richmond.com/sports/local/clarkson-deer-populations-abound-but-number-of-hunters-continues-to/article_3ac70bd5-8345-57e2-a6b2-0031130c926d.html |title= Clarkson: Deer populations abound, but number of hunters continues to decline |first= Tee |last= Clarkson |newspaper= The Richmond Times-Dispatch |date= March 3, 2018 |access-date= April 2, 2020}}</ref><ref name=mammals>{{cite web |url= https://vaswcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Envirothon-Mammals-of-VA.pdf |title= Virginia Master Naturalist Basic Training Course |publisher= Virginia Tech |first= John F. |last= Pagels |date= 2013 |access-date= May 28, 2021 |archive-date= August 31, 2021 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20210831195527/https://vaswcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/Envirothon-Mammals-of-VA.pdf |url-status= dead}}</ref> Native [[carnivora]]ns include [[American black bear|black bears]], who have a population of around five to six thousand in the state,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.nps.gov/shen/learn/nature/black-bear.htm |title= American Black Bear |website= Shenandoah National Park |date= August 21, 2020 |access-date= May 31, 2021}}</ref> as well as [[bobcat]]s, [[coyote]]s, both [[gray fox|gray]] and [[red fox]]es, [[raccoon]]s, [[weasel]]s and [[skunk]]s. Rodents include [[groundhog]]s, [[nutria]], [[beaver]]s, both [[Eastern gray squirrel|gray squirrels]] and [[fox squirrel]]s, chipmunks, and [[Allegheny woodrat]]s, while the seventeen bat species include brown bats and the [[Virginia big-eared bat]], the [[List of U.S. state mammals|state mammal]].<ref name=dwr_list>{{cite web |url=https://dwr.virginia.gov/wildlife/information/|title= Wildlife Information |publisher=Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources|date= June 2, 2016 |access-date=July 4, 2020}}</ref><ref name=mammals/> The [[Virginia opossum]] is the only [[marsupial]] native to the United States and Canada,<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/12/091215202320.htm |title= Ancient origins of modern opossum revealed |date= December 17, 2009 |author= University of Florida |website= Science Daily |access-date= April 2, 2020}}</ref> and the native [[Appalachian cottontail]] was recognized in 1992 as a distinct species of rabbit, one of three found in the state.<ref>{{Cite iucn | author = Barry, R. | author2 = Lazell, J. | name-list-style = amp | title = ''Sylvilagus obscurus'' | volume = 2008 | page = e.T41301A10434606 | date = 2008 | doi = 10.2305/IUCN.UK.2008.RLTS.T41301A10434606.en}}</ref> Whales, dolphins, and porpoises have been recorded in Virginia's coastal waters, with [[bottlenose dolphins]] being the most frequent [[aquatic mammal]]s.<ref name=mammals/>

[[File:FC Osprey.jpg|thumb|left|[[Osprey]] nest at [[False Cape State Park]] on a wooden platform designed to encourage their return to the area|alt=A gray and white bird of prey on the edge of a large nest with water in the distance.]]
[[List of birds of Virginia|Virginia's bird fauna]] comprises 422 counted species, of which 359 are regularly occurring and 214 have bred in Virginia, while the rest are mostly [[Bird migration|winter residents or transients]].<ref name=Terwilliger>Karen Terwilliger, ''A Guide to Endangered and Threatened Species in Virginia'' (Virginia Department of Game & Inland Fisheries/McDonald & Woodward: 1995), p. 158.</ref> [[Water birds]] include sandpipers, wood ducks, and [[Virginia rail]], while common inland examples include warblers, woodpeckers, and cardinals, the [[List of U.S. state birds|state bird]]. Birds of prey include osprey, [[broad-winged hawk]]s, and [[barred owl]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.audubon.org/news/birding-virginia |title= Birding in Virginia |website= National Audubon Society |first= Mel |last= White |date= April 28, 2016 |access-date= May 28, 2021}}</ref> There are no [[Endemic species|endemic]] bird species.<ref name=Terwilliger/> [[National Audubon Society|Audubon]] recognizes 21 [[Important Bird Area]]s in the state.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.audubon.org/important-bird-areas/state/virginia |title= Important Bird Areas: Virginia |access-date= July 4, 2020 |website= National Audubon Society |date= 2020}}</ref> [[Peregrine falcon]]s, whose numbers dramatically declined due to [[DDT]] poisoning in the middle of the 20th century, are the focus of conservation efforts in the state and a reintroduction program in [[Shenandoah National Park]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.bayjournal.com/archives/peregrine-falcons-slow-to-return-to-appalachia/article_28e00ba7-e86e-518d-8e06-5f025b618ae7.html |title= Peregrine falcons slow to return to Appalachia |first= William H. |last= Funk |newspaper= The Chesapeake Bay Journal |date= October 8, 2017 |access-date= April 2, 2020}}</ref>

Virginia has 226 species of [[freshwater fish]] from 25 families, a diversity attributable to the area's varied and humid climate, topography, interconnected river system, and lack of [[Pleistocene glaciation|Pleistocene glaciers]]. Common examples on the [[Cumberland Plateau]] and higher-elevation regions include [[Eastern blacknose dace]], [[sculpin]], [[smallmouth bass]], [[redhorse sucker]], [[Kanawha darter]], and [[brook trout]], the [[List of U.S. state fish|state fish]]. Downhill in the Piedmont, [[stripeback darter]] and [[Roanoke bass]] become common, as do [[swampfish]], [[bluespotted sunfish]], and [[pirate perch]] in the [[Tidewater (region)|Tidewater]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4M6wDwAAQBAJ|title=Field Guide to Freshwater Fishes of Virginia|author1=Paul E. Bugas Jr.|author2=Corbin D. Hilling|author3=Val Kells|author4=Michael J. Pinder|author5=Derek A. Wheaton|author6=Donald J. Orth|date=2019|publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press|pages=13–16|isbn=9781421433073}}</ref> The [[Chesapeake Bay]] hosts clams, oysters, and 350&nbsp;species of [[saltwater fish|saltwater]] and [[Coastal fish|estuarine fish]], including the bay's most abundant finfish, the [[Bay anchovy]], as well as the invasive [[blue catfish]].<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/as-blue-catfish-multiply-in-chesapeake-bay-watermen-pursue-new-catch/2019/06/10/5b5df3f2-8973-11e9-a870-b9c411dc4312_story.html |title= As blue catfish multiply in Chesapeake Bay, watermen pursue new catch |first1= Christina |last1= Tkacik |first2= Scott |last2= Dance |newspaper= The Washington Post |date= June 10, 2019 |access-date= June 2, 2020}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://chesapeakebaymagazine.com/spring-feeding/ |title= Spring Feeding |magazine= Chesapeake Bay Magazine |date= March 26, 2019 |first= John Page |last= Williams |access-date= April 11, 2021}}</ref> An estimated 317&nbsp;million [[Callinectes sapidus|Chesapeake blue crabs]] live in the bay {{as of|2024|lc=on}}.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.axios.com/local/washington-dc/2024/05/22/blue-crab-population-decline-winter-dredge-survey |title= Chesapeake blue crab population sees slight decline |first= Anna |last= Spiegel |date= May 22, 2024 |website= Axios |access-date= May 23, 2024}}</ref> There are 34 native species of crayfish, like the [[Big Sandy crayfish|Big Sandy]].<ref>{{cite web |url= https://loudounwildlife.org/2016/07/crayfish/ |title= Crayfish |first= Emily |last= Bzdyk |date= July 1, 2016 |website= Loudoun Wildlife |volume= 21 |issue= 2 |access-date= May 27, 2021}}</ref><ref name=Burnham/> Amphibians found in Virginia include the [[Cumberland Plateau salamander]] and [[Eastern hellbender]],<ref>Jeffrey C. Beane, Alvin L. Braswell, William M. Palmer, Joseph C. Mitchell & Julian R. Harrison III, ''Amphibians and Reptiles of the Carolinas and Virginia'' (2d ed.: University of North Carolina Press, 2010), pp. 51, 102.</ref> while the [[northern watersnake]] is the most common of the 32&nbsp;snake species.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.nbc12.com/2019/05/03/snakes-virginia-meet-youll-mostly-likely-see-this-season/ |title= Snakes in Virginia: Meet 6 you'll most likely see this season |first= Rex |last= Springston |newspaper= Virginia Mercury |date= May 3, 2019 |access-date= September 1, 2021}}</ref>