Indiana's Rich Biodiversity: a Closer look at the Flora and Fauna

Welcome to Indiana sign. Image credit: wellesenterprises from Getty Images

Indiana is home to 6,924,275 people, with 2,107,559 of those people living in the Indianapolis metro area.

But people aren’t the only inhabitants here. Indiana is also home to 13,976 species of plants, animals, fungi, and more. 

Let’s break that number down:

• 382 bird species (think cardinals, robins, and hawks 🐦)

• 43 amphibian species (frogs & toads 🐸)

• 53 reptile species (snakes, turtles, & lizards 🐍)

• 56 non-human mammal species (squirrels, deer, rabbits 🐿️)

• 174 fish species (bass, catfish, etc. 🐠)

  
  
  
  

And there’s more:

Indianapolis, Indiana, USA. Image Credit: Sean Pavone from Getty Images

• 172 mollusk species (clams, snails, slugs 🐚)

• 377 spider species (yes, spiders! 🕷️)

• 5,972 insect species (beetles, butterflies, bees 🐝)

• 3,727 plant species (my specialty 🌿)

• 2,653 fungi species (mushrooms, lichens 🍄)

• Unknown #s of microscopic creatures (molds, bacteria 🦠🔬)

  
  

To be clear, these numbers do not represent a count of the total number of living animals and plants we have in Indiana. This is only a count of how many different kinds of living beings, aka species, are present in Indiana. Each one of these 13,000+ species has hundreds, thousands or even millions of individuals living in our state. 

Oak Tree. Image Credit: adempercem from Getty Images Signature

Let’s take a closer look at trees—a fraction of Indiana’s plants—they make up about 5% of the plant species. The U.S. Forest Service estimates 2.1 billion trees grow in Indiana forests (21% of the state’s land). 🌳And that’s just the trees in forests. If we count those in towns, cities, and private lands, the number grows even higher!

Or what about fish? A 2019 fish survey in just two Indiana counties found nearly 25,000 fish. Now imagine multiplying that across the state. 

Aerial View of Nappanee, Indiana. Image Credit: Aaron Yoder from Getty Images

It’s safe to say there are billions of living creatures here in Indiana, beyond just trees and people. Indiana is their home, too!

We share this land with an incredible diversity of life, and it’s worth taking a moment to appreciate it. 🌍

About the numbers:

The species counts are based on observations of biodiversity reported to iNaturalist which is an online social network & platform for collecting and sharing biodiversity information. 38,976 people have reported 1,136,705 observations of 13,934 different species to the platform as of Jan 2025. These numbers represent a baseline minimum and are an underestimate of the total number of species.