Disclaimer
The information in New York Nature Explorer was prepared by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation using the data currently available. It is deemed accurate but is not guaranteed, and NYS DEC is not responsible for any inaccuracies in the data. NYS DEC does not warrant the suitability of the data for any particular purpose, and does not necessarily endorse any interpretations or products derived from the data.
Since the data in New York Natural Heritage's databases are continually being updated, it is advisable to refresh data retrieved from New York Nature Explorer at least once a year.
The locations reported by New York Nature Explorer are not the only places in New York with rare animals or rare plants; they are only the places we know about and have documented in the New York Natural Heritage Program's Biodiversity Databases. Not all of New York State has been surveyed, so if your area of interest shows no locations of rare animals or rare plants, we can't definitively say there are no rare plants or animals there; all we can say is that NY Natural Heritage has no information about that area.
The counties documented for a particular species in the 2nd NYS Breeding Bird Atlas or in the NYS Amphibian & Reptile Atlas may not be the only counties where that species occurs; they are only the counties that were documented during those Atlas projects. If a county is not listed for a particular species, we can't definitively say that the species does not occur there; all we can say is that it was not documented there by these projects.
The information reported by New York Nature Explorer is not a substitute for on-site surveys where warranted or required.