National parks are havens for animal, plant, and insect species that may be threatened with extinction through habitat loss or changes in their environment. National parks also provide opportunities to study and preserve the ecosystems that may help us to prevent loss of species in and outside the parks.

74 rare species and community types have been recorded in Shenandoah National Park. In a 1993 report, the authors wrote: "The significant number of natural heritage resources in Shenandoah National Park is testimony to its rich biodiversity. The park's large area, range of elevations, varied topography, and assemblage of substrates provide diverse conditions suitable for more rare species and significant natural communities than any other Mid-Atlantic Region national park unit." (Report of the Virginia Department of Conservation & Recreation, Division of Natural Heritage)

The park is home to the globally rare Shenandoah Salamander, found only in a few locations here and nowhere else in the world. State-rare species include the Zorro Clubtail, a type of dragonfly; birds such as the Winter Wren and Blackburnian Warbler; Gray Birch, a northern tree; and plants such as Herb Robert, Speckled Alder, Canadian Burnet, Blue Flag Iris, Leathery Grape-Fern, and Large Purple-Fringed Orchis.

From 1994 to 1998, a pair of Peregrine Falcons nested in the park, raising a total of eight chicks. The couple was the only known nesting pair of wild falcons in the mountains of Virginia. In 1999, the female did not return, and, since falcons mate for life, she was presumed dead. We hope that the male will return in 2000 and attract another female, and that other falcon nests will be located in the park. Falcons came back to Shenandoah only after a five-year reintroduction effort, mandated by the Endangered Species Act.